Seaplanes, choppers to connect Indian cities

Seaplanes and helicopters to operate between India's regional destinations as part of the government's Regional Connectivity Programme - known as Udan.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has approved 78 new routes under the fourth round of regional connectivity scheme UDAN and the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also being incorporated, a senior government official said on Thursday.

"Following the three successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) had launched the fourth round of UDAN in December 2019 with special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands. The awarding of these 78 routes under UDAN 4 is in line with the Act East policy of the central government," said Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.

"Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated. Since its inception, MoCA has operationalised 274 UDAN routes that have connected 45 airports and 3 heliports," she added.

In the list of new approved routes, 29 served, 08 unserved (including 2 heliports and 1 water aerodrome), and 2 undeserved airports have been included.

An unserved airport is one where there have been no scheduled commercial flights during the last two flight schedules approved by the DGCA. While an undeserved airport means there are no more than seven scheduled commercial flight departures per week as per the latest flight schedule approved by the aviation regulator.

Read:Civil Aviation Ministry okays 78 new routes, focus on NE under UDAN 4.0

According to a statement, Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh; Assam's Rupsi, Misa (Heliport) and Geleki (Heliport); Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh; Hisar Haryana; Minicoy and Kavaratti (Water aerodrome, Lakshadweep) are in the list of unserved airports, while Lakshadweep's Agatti and Arunachal Pradesh's Pasighat are under undeserved airports.

Under the UDAN scheme, the government has identified as many as 16 seaplane routes, which includes Sabarmati and Sardar Sarovar - Statue of Unity route and it is likely to be operationalised by October.