PM acknowledges the achievements of six years of Udan Scheme

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CategoryYojana

Last Updated29/04/2023

The Prime Minister has responded to the tweet by Ministry of Civil Aviation
The Ministry has informed that 6 years ago, Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) Udan took flight, connecting Shimla to Delhi.
Today, with 473 routes and 74 operational airports, heliports, & water aerodromes became the game-changer for the Indian aviation sector.

It was launched in 2016 to make air travel affordable and accessible to the common citizen of India.
It is a regional airport development and “Regional Connectivity Scheme” (RCS) of the Union Government of India.
The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through the revival of existing airstrips and airports.
It is a market driven ongoing scheme where bidding rounds are conducted periodically for covering more destinations/stations and routes under the scheme.
Interested airlines assess the demand on particular routes connecting these airports and submit their proposals at the time of bidding.

Under this phase, 5 airlines companies were awarded 128 flight routes to 70 airports (including 36 newly made operational airports)

In 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced 73 underserved and unserved airports.
For the first time, helipads were also connected under phase 2 of the UDAN scheme.

Inclusion of Tourism Routes under UDAN 3 in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism.
Inclusion of Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes.
Bringing in a number of routes in the North-East Region under the ambit of UDAN.

The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.
The airports that had already been developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme.
Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopters and seaplanes has also been incorporated.