New Delhi: The Centre’s bid to boost air travel at regional level by making it more affordable through concessions seems to be working as more than 86 lakh passengers have travelled under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN (Ude Deshka Aam Nagrik) scheme.
According to the latest official data shared by the government in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, 86 lakh and 5 thousand passengers had travelled under Udan scheme till January 9 this year. The government told the Rajya Sabha that under the scheme, regional airports have been witnessing exponential growth in air traffic under the RCS-UDAN scheme which was launched in 2016.
In October 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched UDAN (Ude Deshka Aam Nagrik) scheme to stimulate regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable to the masses. UDAN is a market driven scheme where bidding rounds are conducted periodically for covering more destinations and 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.
More than 400 regional routes operationalised
According to the information shared by the minister of state for civil aviation Gen VK Singh (retd.) in the Rajya Sabha, out of 948 valid routes, 403 routes involving 65 airports have been operationalised across the country under UDAN. They also include 8 heliports and two water aerodromes. The minister said UDAN has transformed the way people travel in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
Regional airports like Jharsuguda, Kishangarh, Belgaum, Darbhanga, among others, have been witnessing exponential growth in air traffic, he said. The government said the Udan scheme offers an opportunity to common people to fly at an affordable price, for which the Government has capped the Airfare for the seats where VGF is extended to airlines under the regional connectivity scheme.
“UDAN scheme has sparked significant increase in helicopter services in hilly areas and islands through use of heliports,” the minister told the Rajya Sabha. Singh said the linkages between the civil aviation sector and economic growth were well recognized. Citing a study by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Singh said it showed that air connectivity had an economic multiplier of 3.1 and employment multiplier of 6.1.
Talking about the challenges posed by the outbreak of Covid-19 global pandemic, which has killed more than 5,00,000 people in the country and over 5.7 million people worldwide, the minister said the airlines active under the Udan scheme are following all the protocols and guidelines framed by the ministry of health and family welfare and the ministry of home affairs.
He said airlines have taken several steps such as e-boarding, web check-in, contactless dropping of baggage, among other things to boost the confidence of travelers during the Covid times as travel and tourism are among the sectors worst hit by the Covid.
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