UDAN

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"Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik"
Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN-RCS)
UDAN Project.png
MottoUde Desh ka Aam Naagrik
(Let the common citizen of the country fly.)
Type of projectGovernment's regional airports and routes development scheme with subsidised capped airfares
Country India
Ministry Ministry of Civil Aviation (India) [1]
Key people Jyotiraditya Scindia
Launched21 October 2016;8 years ago (2016-10-21) [2]
Delhi
Budget₹450 billion (equivalent to ₹630 billionorUS$7.6 billion in 2023) initial funding for the development of 50 regional airports [3]
₹5000 per flight (₹30 per seat) levy on trunk routes for the UDAN RCS
Website www.aai.aero
The busiest Indian airports (2015-16). Busiest Indian airports.png
The busiest Indian airports (2015-16).

Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym UDAN-RCS (Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of upgrading under-serviced air routes.RCS scheme consists of setting up Greenfield airports and as well as upgradation of Brownfield airports. Its objective is to make air travel more accessible and contribute to economic development in India. [1] [4] At the beginning of the scheme, out of a total of 486 airports, 406 were under-serviced [5] and only 27 were well-served; out of 97 non-RCS airports [6] [7] only 12 were operational. [8] [7] The UDAN scheme was created to add to this number by expediting the development and operationalization of India's potential target of nearly 425 unserved, under-served, and mostly underdeveloped regional airports with regularly scheduled flights. [9] However, several issues and criticisms of its poor infrastructure, [10] dominance by larger airlines, degradation of regional airlines, [11] and slow implementation [12] have plagued the scheme. In October 2023, India has 149 operational airports for civil aviation, including 30 international, 12 customs, 107 domestic, and few more civil aviation enclaves within military air bases. India is also planning to build the second airports in the big cities to decongest, 6 by 2030, 15 by 2040 and 30 plus by 2047. [13]

Contents

UDAN-RCS is integrated with other Government of India schemes, such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Parvatmala, Setu Bharatam, Dedicated Freight Corridors, Industrial corridor, BharatNet, Digital India and Make in India, National e-Governance Plan, Startup India and Standup India.

Phases

UDAN 1.0: 36 new airports were commissioned. 128 flight routes for 70 airports were awarded to 5 airline companies.

UDAN 2.0: A helipad was added for the first time. In 2018, 73 unserved airports were announced.

UDAN 3.0: Several changes were made, including tourist routes, seaplanes to connect water aerodromes, and routes under 'UDAN' in the North-East region.

UDAN 4.0: 78 new routes were approved in 2020. In this phase, the Kavaratti, Agatti, and Minicoy islands of Lakshadweep will also be connected by new routes.

UDAN 4.1: This phase is focused on connecting small airports, special helicopter, and seaplane routes under UDAN. New ways have also been proposed under Sagarmala seaplane services.

Details

The UDAN Scheme is a key component of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) which was released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India) on 15 June 2016. [14] The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments. Several states have come on board by signing the "Memorandum of Understanding" with the union government for this scheme. [9] UDAN RCS will connect an unspecified number of new regional routes by operationalizing 100 regional airports by the end of the 2018-2019 financial year, with a target of 13 lakhs (1.3 million) annual passenger seats. It will require ₹200 crore (2 billion rupees) in viability gap funding (VGF) annually. [15] Qualifying routes must have three to seven flights per week from the same airport. [16]

The scheme has two components. The first component is to develop new airports and enhance the existing regional airports to increase the number of operational airports for scheduled civilian flights from 70 (in May 2016, a total 98 operational including army airports) [17] to at least 150 airports (by December 2018) with regularly scheduled flights. [3] [18] [7] Initially, more than 100 underserved (no more than 7 scheduled flights per week) and unserved regional airports will be developed by December 2018, for which the initial funding of ₹45,000 million (equivalent to ₹63 billion,US$760 million or €770 million in 2023) for the enhancement of 50 regional airports was approved in May 2017. [3] [18] [7] Out of the total 70 airports included in round I, 43 are regional airports to be newly operationalized. RCS-Udan operations have commenced from 13 regional airports and additional 12 regional airports are ready to receive flights. 18 regional airports still require significant upgrades (November 2017). [7] The second component is to add several hundred financially viable, capped-airfare, new regional flight routes to connect more than 100 underserved and unserved airports in smaller towns with each other as well as with well-served airports in bigger cities by using "Viability Gap Funding" (VGF) where needed. [7] [19] [20] Initially, three separate rounds of bidding for the award of routes will be concluded by the end of 2018. [21] Union government's share of "Viability Gap Funding" is from the cess applied to flights to popular routes to main cities and respective state governments have also offered additional benefits to the flight operators to make UDAN-RCS viable. [18]

The number of aircraft increased by 38% to 548 in December 2017 from 395 in 2014, and 50 aircraft are being added every year. [22] Subsequent phases with the inclusion of seaplanes will boost the number of potential landing sites from nearly 500 airports to over five lakhs (500,000) waterbodies as well as more locations along India's 7,000  km coastline. [23] [24] SpiceJet placed a US$400 million order for 100 of these 12-seater amphibian seaplanes (December 2017). [24] [23]

India has 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports; [9] out of a total of these 410 potential-target unserved and under-served regional airports, INR4500 Crore has been approved in the 2016-2017 union budget to revive and further develop 50 airports in the smaller regional towns between 2017 and 2020, 15 airports during 2017–18, another 15 airports during 2018–19, and 20 more airports during 2019–20. [3] [9] [17] A total of 75 airports were operationalized for civilian flights in India since independence, the government has newly operationalized additional 36 regional airports for civilian flights including 3 civil enclaves within the army airports, with regularly scheduled flights, within the single financial year of 2016–2017, with the target to complete a cumulative total of 50 operational regional airports by the end of 2018–2019, and eventually, operationalize a cumulative total of 100 regional airports by December 2018. [25] [26]

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi launched the scheme on 27 April 2017 by flagging off the inaugural regional flights between Delhi and Shimla, and also between Kadapa-Hyderabad-Nanded. [27]

Concessions to operators

The scheme will run for 10 years and can be extended thereafter.

From central government

Following concessions from the Government of India: [28]

  • Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to subsidize the airfare.
  • Concession on service tax on tickets.
  • Code-sharing of UDAN-RCS flights permitted with other operators.

From state governments

Following concessions from the participating state governments at their respective UDAN-RCS airports: [28]

  • Reduction of VAT (or GST after GST came into operation) to 1% or less for 10 years.
  • Coordinate with oil companies to create fueling infrastructure in airports.
  • Provide free land for the development of the airport, with multimodal (rail, road, metro, waterways, etc.) hinterland connectivity.
  • Provide free trained security.
  • Provision of water, electricity and other utilities at a reduced rate
  • Provide a 20% share of Viability Gap Funding; North-Eastern states, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Union territories to provide a 10% share only.
  • State governments are encouraged to provide additional concessions.

From airport operators

Airport operators (commercial or private companies, central and state governments or their entities such as AAI and Defence Ministry) must agree to provide the following concessions to participate in UDAN-RCS scheme: [28]

UDAN-RCS cargo flights concession

Cargo flights will be given similar benefits except no "Value Gap Funding" (VGF) will be provided. [28]

UDAN-RCS fares

For the fixed-wing aircraft, there is a cap of maximum fare of ₹2,500 per hour of flight for 50% of the seats (min 9 RCS seats and max 40 RCS seats per fixed-wing flight, and max 12 helicopter RCS seats per Heli flight), connecting unserved and under-served regional airports, remaining 50% seats will be priced at market rate. [9] [29] Capped RCS fares will also be graded based on distance, e.g. ₹1,420 for a distance of 151–175 km, ₹1,500 for a distance of 176–200 km, and so on, with a ceiling of maximum ₹3,500 fare for a total distance of 800 km or more. [30]

For the helicopter services maximum fare is also capped at ₹2,500 for every 30-minute leg of flight. [30] Capped helicopter fare will be graded on the time of flight, e.g., ₹2,500 for a flight of 0 to 30 minutes, ₹2,900 for a flight of 31 to 35 minutes, and so on, with a ceiling of maximum ₹5,000 fare for a total flight duration of 60 minutes or more. [30]

Viability gap funding

The scheme entails making the routes financially viable, without insisting on the financial viability of the regional airports, by lowering the cost of flight operations and through financial support in the form of viability gap funding (VGF). VGF will be available to flight operators on specific routes for the first 3 years of operation. [28]

The demand-driven revival and enhancement of the regional airports with financially viable commercial flight routes is based on the combination of seeking firm proposals from Airlines for the names of airports they wish to fly to and MoU-bound commitment from the state governments for providing various concessions for the airport operations, such as state tax concessions, free land and security, etc. [3] Participating states, Northeast states and Union Territories are required to sign the MoU with the union governments to share the 20% and 10% burden of VGF respectively. [9] [31] [16]

To make the routes viable for commercial airlines, the union government offers flexible code-sharing arrangements, reduced excise on value-added tax on fuel and service tax. [3] Airports, some owned by the Airports Authority of India and others by the respective state governments, [3] will not charge the landing and parking charges and terminal navigation landing charges. [3] [32]

Airlines will be given Value Gap Funding (VGF) raised from the RCS levy. [9] Starting from 2017, the airfare cap and VGF in this 10-year scheme will be revised quarterly, based on Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers. [9] [32]

UDAN-RCS levy

RCS subsidy will be raised by levying a cess, which will be revised periodically, on the flight between main trunk routes connecting major cities. [33] Starting from 1 June 2017, it is initially at a flat rate of ₹5,000 per flight, translating into roughly ₹30 per passenger. [33]

Impact of STOL, seaplanes, ski and bush planes on UDAN-RCS

While UDAN phase-I had focused on fixed-wing aircraft, Phase-II included helicopters also. Subsequent phases were supposed to include STOL seaplanes and ski and bush planes operating from STOLports. On 9 December 2017, SpiceJet conducted seaplane trials using a Quest Kodiak aircraft, in association with Japan's Setouchi Holdings, who owned Quest Aircraft company LLC at that time. SpiceJet was planning to buy 100 Quest Kodiak amphibian seaplanes for US$400 million, including long-term parts and maintenance (December 2017) [23] [34] The trials were conducted from Girgaum Chowpatty off the Mumbai coast with Union minister Nitin Gadkari on board. At the occasion, Gadkari claimed that seaplanes had the potential to revolutionize air transport in the country, possibly opening up many more destinations by enhancing the potential pool of landing sites from nearly 500 airports to over five lakh (500,000) waterbodies and thousand more locations along India's 7,000 km long coastline. He said that the Civil Aviation Ministry and Water and River Resources Ministry would soon formulate rules for the seaplane operations along the lines of those in nations like United States, Canada and Japan. [24] A few days later on 12 December 2017, Prime Minister Modi also rode a Quest Kodiak operated from Sabarmati River to Dharoi Dam. [23] [24]

In 2019, the third round of the UDAN scheme awarded 18 air routes connecting six water aerodrome sites to be connected by seaplanes. [35] The water aerodrome sites are Guwahati river front, Nagarjuna Sagar, Sabarmati river front, Shatrunjay Dam, Statue of Unity (Sardar Sarovar Dam) and Umrangso Reservoir. [36]

List of Airports/Aerocity under UDAN scheme

Greenfield Airports

ProjectTypeLocationStatus
Ankleshwar Airport Domestic Airport Mandva, Gujarat Ongoing
Aligarh Airport Domestic Airport Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Ayodhya Airport International Airport Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Azamgarh Airport Domestic Airport Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Bhogapuram Airport International Airport Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Ongoing
Chennai Greenfield International Airport International Airport Chennai, Tamil Nadu Ongoing
Chitrakoot Airport Domestic Airport Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Darbhanga Airport [37] Domestic Airport Darbhanga, Bihar Completed
Dhalbhumgarh Airport Domestic Airport Jamshedpur, Jharkhand Ongoing
Deoghar Airport Domestic Airport Deoghar, Jharkhand Completed
Donyi Polo Airport Domestic Airport Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh Completed
Dholera International Airport International Airport Ahmedabad, Gujarat Ongoing
Kanpur Airport Domestic Airport Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Karaikal Airport Domestic Airport Karaikal, Pondicherry Ongoing
Kota Greenfield Airport Domestic Airport Kota, Rajasthan Ongoing
Kurnool Airport Domestic Airport Kurnool, Andra Pradesh Completed
Kushinagar International Airport International Airport Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Ludhiana International Airport International Airport Ludhiana, Punjab Ongoing
Mandi Airport International Airport Mandi, Himachal Pradesh Ongoing
Manohar International Airport International Airport Mopa, Goa Completed
Minicoy Airport Domestic Airport Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep Ongoing
Moradabad Airport Domestic Airport Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Navi Mumbai International Airport International Airport Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra Ongoing
New Pune Airport International Airport Pune, Maharashtra Ongoing
Noida International Airport International Airport Noida, Uttar Pradesh Ongoing
Pakyong Airport Domestic Airport Gangtok, Sikkim Completed
Puri International Airport Domestic airport Puri, Odisha Ongoing
Rajkot International Airport International Airport Rajkot, Gujarat Completed
Rewa Airport Domestic Airport Rewa, Madhya Pradesh Ongoing
Sabarimala Greenfield Airport International Airport Kottayam, Kerala Ongoing
Shravasti Airport Domestic Airport Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Shivamogga Airport [38] Domestic airport Shimoga, Karnataka Completed
Solapur Airport Domestic Airport Solapur, Maharashtra Completed
Surat International Airport International Airport Surat, Gujarat Completed
Utkela Airport Domestic airport Utkel, Odisha Completed
Warangal Airport Domestic airport Warangal, Telangana Ongoing
Vijayawada Airport International airport Vijaywada, Andra Pradesh Completed
Vuakmual Airport Domestic airport Vuakmual, Mizoram Ongoing

Brownfield Airports

Chennai International T-2 Terminal Chennai International Airport T2 Arrival Pic 1.jpg
Chennai International T-2 Terminal
ProjectTypeLocationStatus
Adampur Airport New terminal Adampur, Punjab Completed
Agatti Airport Military airbase to commercial flights Agatti, Lakshadweep Completed
Bangalore Airport New terminal T-2 Bengaluru, Karnataka Completed
Belagavi Airport New terminal in airport Belagavi , Karnataka Under-construction
Chennai Airport New terminal T-2 Chennai, Tamil Nadu Completed
Pune Airport New terminal in airport Pune, Maharashtra Completed
Kadapa Airport New terminal in airport Kadapa, Andra Pradesh Under-construction
Kolhapur Airport New terminal in airport Kolhapur, Maharashtra Completed
Jabalpur Airport New terminal in airport Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh Completed
Gwalior Airport New terminal in airport Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh Completed
Hubli Airport New terminal in airport Hubli, Karnataka Under-construction
Lucknow Airport New terminal T-3 in airport Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Completed
Trichy Airport New terminal in airport Trichy, Tamil Nadu Completed
Veer Savarkar International Airport New terminal Port Blair, Andaman Islands Completed

Proposed Airports

ProjectTypeLocationStatus
Chandrapur Greenfield Airport Domestic Airport Chandrapur, Maharashtra Proposed
Chaukhutia Airport Domestic Airport Chaukhutia, Uttarakhand Proposed
Mandi Airport Domestic Airport Mandi, Himachal Proposed
New Bellary airport Domestic Airport Bellary , Karnataka Proposed
Nizamabad Airport Domestic Airport Nizamabad, Andra Pradesh Proposed
Kishtwar Airport Domestic Airport Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir Proposed
Kohima Chiethu Airport Domestic Airport Chiethu, Nagaland Proposed
Kothagudem Airport Domestic Airport Kothagudem, Andra Pradesh Proposed
Rajpipla Airport Domestic Airport Rajpipla, Gujarat Proposed
Ramagundam Airport Domestic Airport Ramagundam, Andra Pradesh Proposed
Dhamra Airport Domestic Airport Dhamra, Odisha Proposed

Aerocities

ProjectTypeLocationStatus
Lucknow Aerocity [39] new aerocity Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Under-construction
Noida Aerocity [40] new aerocity Noida, Uttar Pradesh Under-construction
Navi Mumbai Aerocity [41] new aerocity Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra Under-construction
Bengaluru Aerocity new aerocity Bengaluru, Karnataka Under-construction

UDAN-RCS connectivity by rounds

Bidding process

AAI aims to operationalize, hundreds of routes in several rounds of UDAN-RCS, from at least 100 regional airports by the end of 2018-2019 financial year. [3] [25] AAI will periodically publish the updated list of participating airports and helipads, with collaboration from their owners, such as central govt, state govt, commercial and private parties, and in addition any entity can list their airport or helipad with the government for this scheme. [28] Three rounds of bidding for operationalization of new routes will be conducted in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 financial years, more rounds of bidding will follow till the end of 2018-2019. [21] Airlines (including seaplane) and helicopter service providers will bid for the routes with at least nine seats and a maximum of 40 seats for the fixed-wing aircraft and a minimum of 5 seats and a maximum of 13 seats for the helicopters. [9] To ensure the sustainability of the routes by lowering the commercial risk, these "specific" routes will be awarded on an exclusive basis to the winning parties. [28] Preference is given to the bidder who bid for zero-VGF (operators who rely on no government subsidized VGF to sustain their operation), for example, in phase-I SpiceJet bid was zero-VGF, and in Phase-II SpiceJet and IndiGo bids were zero-VGF. [42]

UDAN-RCS Round-I (April 2017)

This round concluded in April 2017, 5 airlines companies were awarded 128 fixed-wing flight routes to 70 airports (including 27 currently well-served metro airports and 43 regional airports (31 unserved and 12 underserved, 36 out of 43 are newly made operational including 2 civilian enclave within army airports), [17] several of which have already become operational by November 2017 and most of remaining routes will become operational by 15 December 2017. [18] [7] [32] [21] Five airlines are Air Odisha (50 routes, new airline), Air Deccan (34 routes, relaunched airline), Turbo Megha Airways (18 routes), Alliance Air (15 routes, Air India subsidiary) and SpiceJet (11 routes). [43] [44] [30] Several routes are already operational on 13 December 2017 and most of remaining routes, all to be operated by Air Deccan and Air Odisha will become operational by 23 December 2017 and 31 December respectively. [42] [7] SpiceJet was the only bidder with zero-VGF. [42]

UDAN-RCS Round-II (December 2017)

502 new regional fixed-wing and helicopter routes were bid in 196 proposals (55 counter-proposals from 10 airlines, and 141 initial proposals from 17 airlines including 108 for the fixed-wing and 33 for helicopters) to connect 126 airports and heliports (49 unserved, 15 under-served, 38 well-served and 24 helipads). [42] [18] [7] [45] Second round results will be awarded in late December 2017. [7] [15] [46] SpiceJet and IndiGo are bidders with zero-VGF. [42]

UDAN-RCS Round-III (January 2019)

The central government has received bids for 111 routes from 15 airlines under the third round of auction for the UDAN scheme. SpiceJet and IndiGo has bid for 37 routes and 20 routes in the third round of auctions. Ghodawat Enterprises Private Limited has bid for total of 15 routes in this round. The Centre did not include chopper routes under the third round of auctions, as there have already been. [47]

UDAN-RCS Round-IV (December 2019)

Started on 3 December 2019. In this phase, The Viability Gap Funding has been revised. The funding that was provided for Category 2 and 3 air crafts (which generally have >20 seats) has now been enhanced to all flights in the states of HP, Uttarakhand, J&K, Northeastern states and the islands. Also, the phase will allow operation of helicopter and seaplanes. The phase also plans to promote short-haul routes, meaning no monetary support will be given to operators with stages more than 600 km. [48]

UDAN-RCS Round-V (April 2023)

Following the four successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched the 5th round of UDAN to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country and achieve last mile connectivity on 21 April 2023. [49]

Key Features of UDAN 5.0 are as follows:

Summary status table

RoundFixed-wing / helicopterRoutes awardedTotal portsUnserved portsUnderserved portsWell-served portsWinners
# of airlines / providers		Operational
status
R1
(2017 Apr)		Fixed-wing128 [42] 70 [42] 31 [42] 12 [42] 27 [42] 5 [42]
Air Odisha-50,
Air Deccan-34,
Trujet-18,
Alliance Air-15,
SpiceJet-11.
HelicopterNANANANANANA
WaterportsNANANANANANA
R2
(2017 Dec)		Fixed-wing325 [42] 78 [42] 29 [42] 13 [42] 36 [42] [42]
Helicopter31 [42] [42]
WaterportsNANANANANANA
R3
(2018 Apr)		Fixed-wing
Helicopter
Waterports
R4
(2018 Dec)		Fixed-wing
Helicopter
Waterports
R5
(2019 Apr)		Fixed-wing
Helicopter
Waterports
R6
(2019 Dec)		Fixed-wing
Helicopter
Waterports

Issues

Poor infrastructure including the lack of operational readiness of airports in remote areas and lack of availability of bays in the private airports in the large metro cities, shortage of pilots, lack of favorable rules and still pending reforms in DGCA (aviation regulator) and AAI rules and regulations are the main hurdles, most of these the government is responsible for (c. 22 December 2017). [10] Situation will get worse as airlines plan to add 900 aircraft, such as IndiGo 448 (399 A320s and 49 ATRs by 2028 to its existing 150 aircraft), SpiceJet 157 (107 B737-800s and 50 Bombardier Q400s during the 2018–2023 period to its existing 57 aircraft), GoAir 119 (A320 during 2018–2022 to its existing 34), AirAsia 60 (by 2025 to its existing 14), Air India 19 (3 B777-300ER and 16 A320 planes by March 2019 to its existing 155), Zoom Air 19 (5 CRJ-200 and 14 CRJ-900 planes to its existing 2), Vistara 5 (to its existing 17) and TruJet 6 (ATR72-500/600 from 2018 to 2022 to its existing 4). [50] AAI announced that as the part of its ₹ 200,000 million (equivalent to ₹280 billionorUS$3.4 billion in 2023) infrastructure upgrade plans over next 4 years (2021) it will add 273 bays at 24 major airports against the industry requirement of 300 overnight parking bays at 30 airports in next 5 years (c. 22 December 2017). [51] The solution lies in the policy intervention, such as reserving at least 25% bays for the regional routes at the metro airports. [52]

Criticisms

A 2019 analysis by Outlook of the first two phases of RCS routes notes that the success rate of UDAN was less than 20 per cent. Of the 440-odd air routes allotted to 14 major and fledgling airlines under the two phases of UDAN, not more than 40 to 60 routes were operating regularly. This was because smaller operators such as Zoom Air, Trujet, Pinnacle Airlines, Heritage and AAA Aviation had succumbed to operational issues. Industry experts pointed out several operational, technical, procedural and financial problems in the scheme that failed to create a proper ecosystem for smaller operators due to which the operational costs of the operators of small aircraft went so high that the government subsidy could not compensate. The scheme hence benefited only the operators of larger aircraft like the ATR 72 and the Airbus A320. [12]

A close examination of the distribution of successful UDAN routes by operator, shows most of the successful routes have come from large operators like SpiceJet and IndiGo. Both these airlines have chosen to not take the Viability Gap Funding subsidy, but are instead leveraging the scheme strategically towards gaining additional slots for themselves at congested Tier-1 airports and gaining monopoly status on routes. [53] Aviation consultancy firm CAPA India had predicted that the success of the scheme would depend on the participation established airlines, since in its current form, UDAN does not make a business case for small and independent operators who cannot benefit from the economies of scale. [54] In its report, “Indian Aviation Outlook for FY2019", CAPA India pointed out that "the chances of failure of regional airlines operating older aircraft, dispersed across multiple stations without rigorous demand assessment, and in the absence of a maintenance ecosystem is significant". [11] However, UDAN cannot run without small aircraft operators as only small aircraft can land and take off from the majority of the 400 airports that the scheme intends to bring online.[ citation needed ] [55]

The scheme also faced criticism for the financing model it had adopted. A viability gap funding structure, where a surcharge was levied on tickets on existing routes, which would be used to refund part of the ticket costs for the airlines flying on UDAN route, was adopted which didn't go down well with various quarters. [56]

Critics have also pointed out issues in Scheme execution such as AAI's selection of airports that lack supporting economic activity. Leisure and native traffic alone will not stimulate demand at small airports. Demand for air travel is created and sustained by the presence of industries and the services sector. Critics blame faulty planning of the AAI and political influence. Demand surveys have failed to correctly predict future passenger traffic demand. [57]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jalgaon Airport</span> Airport in Maharashtra, India

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Hisar Airport, officially known as Maharaja Agrasen International Airport is a DGCA-licensed public airport serving Hisar in Haryana state of India. It is located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the city center on NH-9. The airport is planned to be upgraded to an international airport by 2030. It will eventually see the development of a new MRO, aerospace university, aerospace and defense manufacturing industrial zone, logistics and food parks, etc. over an area spread across 10,000 acres (4,000 ha). In 2021, the total cost of planned upgrade in 3 phases, including the actual spend and future approved allocations, is nearly ₹5,200 crore.

Chitrakoot Airport is operational now domestic airport which will serve the city of Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located at Dewangna in Chitrakoot district, 12 km (7.5 mi) from the city center. The existing airstrip with a runway is currently owned by the Civil Aviation Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. In January 2019, the State Government decided to expand the airstrip and construct an airport terminal by acquiring additional land from the forest department. The airport has a pre-fabricated passenger terminal covering 525 square meters and can accommodate 20 arriving and 20 departing passengers. In October 2020, Gurugram-based Aviation Connectivity and Infrastructure Developers Pvt Ltd won the rights to operate flights from the airport to Kanpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi, under the government's UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme. Currently, the airport is not operational, and the terminal is being handled only for private operations. To make it a full-fledged commercial airport, it is undergoing expansion, which includes a new 2,500-metre runway, suitable for handling Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 type aircraft, an apron, and a new passenger terminal. Before the completion of the expansion project, the existing terminal is announced to restart operations, and for that, is expected to get the license within 4-5 months from now, as of February 2023. The expansion project is expected to be completed by 2024.

Utkela Airport is a domestic airport owned by the Government of Odisha located at Utkela in Kalahandi district, Odisha, India. It is situated 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Bhawanipatna. The airport has been designated to be developed as a regional airport under the government's UDAN Scheme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adampur Airport</span> Airport in Punjab, India

Adampur Airport, is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base serving the cities of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur in Punjab, India. It is located 6.7 km (4.2 mi) from Adampur town in Jalandhar district, 28 km (17 mi) from Jalandhar and 27 km (17 mi) from Hoshiarpur. It just beside NH-3. As it lies just between the cities of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur, it serves both the cities. The airport was required by the Doaba region of Punjab for facilitating commercial operations, as the other two main airports of the state at Amritsar and Chandigarh are 100 and 145 km distant, respectively.

Aviation in India can be broadly divided into military and civil aviation. India has an extensive civilian air transportation network and is amongst the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil aviation in India</span>

Civil aviation in India, the world's third-largest civil aviation market as of 2020, traces its origin back to 1911, when the first commercial civil aviation flight took off from a polo ground in Allahabad carrying mail across the Yamuna river to Naini.

National Civil Aviation Policy is government policy approved by Union Cabinet on 15 June, 2016. The NCAP 2016 covers the broad policy areas, such as Regional connectivity, Safety, Air Transport Operations, 5/20 Requirement for International Operations, Bilateral traffic rights, Fiscal Support, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, Air-cargo, Aeronautical 'Make in India'. The UDAN Scheme which was launched on April 27, 2017 by PM Narendra Modi, is a key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darbhanga Airport</span> Domestic airport in Darbhanga, Bihar, India

Darbhanga Airport is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force Station, serving Darbhanga, Bihar, India. It is located just at the outskirts of the city near the NH-527B and NH-57 highways, which passes through Darbhanga. The airport is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The foundation stone for the airport was laid by the then Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, and the then Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu, in the presence of the State Civil Aviation Minister, Jayant Sinha, on 24 December 2018. After efforts taken by the then Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri. Commercial flights started on 8 November 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindon Airport</span> Domestic airport in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Hindon Airport, also spelled Hindan Airport, is a commercial domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, operated by the Airports Authority of India at Hindan Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force. It is the second commercial airport serving the National Capital Region after Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and 20 km from Connaught Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rewa Airport</span> Domestic airport in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India

Rewa Airport is a domestic airport, which serves the city of Rewa, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located at Chorhata, 11 km (6.8 mi) away from the city centre. The airport is part of the government's UDAN regional connectivity scheme. The airport is connected by flights to Jabalpur and Singrauli under the PM Shri Tourism Air Services operated by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB)

References

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  2. ↑ "Regional Connectivity Scheme" (PDF). civilaviation.gov.in. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Shukla, Tarun (6 March 2017). "Govt clears Rs4,500 crore for 50 regional airports under Udan scheme". mint. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik : Civil Aviation Ministry's Regional Connectivity Scheme "UDAN" Launched Today". Press Information Bureau. Government of India. 21 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 Participating unserved UDAN-RCS airports, Airport Authority of India, Nov 2016.
  6. 1 2 Non-RCS airports including well served airports, Airport Authority of India, Nov 2016
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Udan scheme round-II: Government receives 141 proposals for air routes.", Zee Business, 14 November 2017.
  8. 1 2 Underserved participating airports at the beginning of UDAN-RCS, Airport Authority of India, Nov 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Aviation scheme UDAN takes off, fares capped at Rs 2,500 for 1-hour flights, Hindustan Times , 21 Oct 2016
  10. 1 2 Regional connectivity was an unfulfilled dream: Captain Gopinath on his return to aviation, Money Control, 22 December 2017.
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  13. ↑ Aviation ministry plans development of 6 ‘Twin City’ airports by 2030, infra.com, 8 oct 2023.
  14. ↑ "All you need to know about the UDAN scheme for low-cost, regional connectivity". The Hindu . 27 April 2017.
  15. 1 2 More UDAN routes to be allocated., Apps for PC Daily, 25 May 2017.]
  16. 1 2 Civil aviation ministry may face funding crunch for UDAN, The Economic Times , 18 December 2017.
  17. 1 2 3 State police to stand guard at Airports under UDAN scheme, The Economic Times, 2 December 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 "UDAN: Govt links airlines' performance to the award of more routes.", The Economic Times, 14 November 2017.
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  20. ↑ Regional Connectivity Scheme – UDAN (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Civil Aviation – Government of India. October 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  21. 1 2 3 Map of 70 airports with 128 routes in the RCS Phase-1 UDAN takes off: Five airlines to fly 128 routes, connect 70 airports, Indian Express, 31 March 2017
  22. ↑ In-principle approval for 19 greenfield airports given: Raju, Times of India , 20 December 2017.
  23. 1 2 3 4 SpiceJet may put seaplanes into operations within a year, LiveMint, 9 December 2017.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Seaplane will revolutionise transport sector: Nitin Gadkari, The Economic Times, 12 December 2017.
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  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UDAN-RCS Plan (final version, 2016), Government of India, 2016.
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  30. 1 2 3 4 5 "Big leap for cheap flight scheme UDAN as airlines rush to grab a pie of skies.", The Financial Express , 22 November 2017.
  31. ↑ UDAN Scheme
  32. 1 2 3 "All you wanted to know about UDAN.", The Hindu, 15 May 2017]
  33. 1 2 "Centre cuts UDAN levy on air tickets.", The Hindu, 12 May 2017]
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  36. ↑ "Seaplane services to start at six places: Govt". Outlook . 7 February 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
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  38. ↑ "15 New Airports Coming Up in India - Jewar, Mopa, Rewa & More". Magicbricks Blog. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  39. ↑ Dixit, Pawan. "Uttar Pradesh budget: Lucknow to jet into investor-friendly club with 1500-acre Aerocity". Hindustan Times .
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  41. ↑ "Aerocity plan in Navi Mumbai takes off; will have offices, schools, entertainment, hospitals". The Times of India. 17 January 2021.
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 IndiGo, Jet Airways put in bids for operating UDAN flights, Hindustan Times, 13 December 2017.
  43. ↑ "PM flags off UDAN flight scheme: 10 things to know". Times of India . 27 April 2017.
  44. ↑ Sharma, Ashwani (28 April 2017). "PM Modi flags off UDAN scheme with cheap Shimla-Delhi flight". Indian Express.
  45. ↑ Indo lets go VGF, The Economic Times, 13 December 2017.
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  49. ↑ "Ministry of Civil Aviation Launches UDAN 5.0". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  50. ↑ Indian carriers to induct over 900 planes in coming years, The Economic Times, 25 December 2017.
  51. ↑ Airports Authority of India plans to add 273 bays at 24 airports, The Economic Times, 22 December 2017.
  52. ↑ More flights to smaller cities must for development: Air Deccan chief, The Economic Times, 24 December 2017.
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