With ‘Udan’ scheme launched by government, air travel to become possible for all. Know the details of this scheme.

Air travel, which was till now restricted to higher income group and few major cities in the country, is going to be possible for all as Prime Ministe Narendra Modi is today, i.e., on 27th April 2017, launching ‘Udan’ scheme which is aimed at boosting regional connectivity with low-cost flights. ‘Udan’ abbreviated as Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagirk, is a scheme under which civil aviation ministry aims to connect all major cities with business, industrial, tourism and other importance throughout the country.

UDAN is an innovative scheme to develop the regional aviation market. It is a market-based mechanism in which airlines bid for seat subsidies. Under this scheme, half of the seats on the plane will be capped at Rs. 2,500 per hour’s flight. Government will subsidise the losses incurred by airlines flying to dormant airports by charging Rs. 2,500 per hour’s flight. 80% of the subsidy will be collected by charging a levy of up to Rs. 8,500 on each departing flight of domestic airlines and the rest 20% will come from the respective State governments. Government will provide subsidy to airlines for first three years of operations when they will have exclusive flying rights on the selected routes. Once the market in these routes gets jump started, it will operate on a commercial basis as per market forces of supply and demand.

Under the scheme, five airlines will operate on 128 routes connecting 70 airports, including 31 unserved and 12 under-served ones. The operators are Air India’s subsidiary Airline Allied Services, SpiceJet, Air Deccan, Air Odisha and Turbo Megha. They would be operating 19-78 seater aircraft.

These flights would connect airports spread across over 20 states and union territories including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The airports that would be connected under UDAN include Bhatinda, Shimla, Bilaspur, Neyveli, Cooch Behar, Nanded and Kadapa.

UDAN is first-of-its-kind scheme globally that aims to create affordable, economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes. It will also strive to make flying affordable to the common man even in small towns. The scheme will help to stimulate growth (in terms of employment and investment) in the regional aviation market and connect underserved and unserved airports in the hinterland areas that were not having flight services.

It’s a welcome move by government by which not only dream of air travel will become possible for all but will also reduce burden on rail and road transport. We hope this scheme to be a big success and more Indian cities get connected with air travel.