UDAN Boosts Connectivity In 25 Tier II & Tier III Cities Within 13 Months!

A few Months back Sikkim was the only state in the country to not have an airport. However, After 13 months there is finally India’s 100^th airport in the Pakyong district which is about 35 Kilometres away from Gangtok, Sikkim. This has been made possible by government’s UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme.

The UDAN Scheme, also known as Regional Connectivity Scheme(RCS), was implemented by the government in April 2017 to boost regional connectivity and make air travel affordable In India.

Before the scheme was implemented the country had 75 airports, however within 13 months, 25 new airports have been added to the network.

Here’s how the regional air connectivity has improved under the UDAN scheme –

• The airports in Pathankot (which was not operational for 7 years) and Adampur district in Punjab have been made operational under the scheme.
• The airstrips in Vijaynagar in Karnataka and Rourkela in Odisha, which were being used by corporates for business purposes, have now been opened for general public.
• The Hubli Airport in Karnataka saw its first commercial flight at the start of this month.
• Airports have opened up in districts like Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), Kandla(Gujrat), Nanded(Maharashtra), Ozar (Nashik), Porbandar(Gujrat), Jalgaon(Maharashtra) and Mundra(Gujrat).
• States like Pondicherry and Daman & Diu have also seen airports being opened up for the public.
• Under RCS, the price of an air ticket for a one hour journey on a fixed-wing airplane is just Rs 2500.
• Regional airlines such as Air Deccan and Air Odisha have also started on routes under The UDAN scheme.

According to Mr. Ajay Singh, SpiceJet’s MD & Chairman, the air traffic on regional routes has increased significantly. There is an occupancy of over 90% on SpiceJet flights on routes under the UDAN scheme.

Airlines in India served 11.7 crore passengers in 2017 and the industry saw a growth rate of 17.3%. This year on year growth has made India the fastest growing domestic aviation market in the world.

To cater to the high demand and improve air travel connectivity, it is important to build airports in districts other than metro cities, which has been made possible under the UDAN Scheme. RCS will also play a major part in making air travel more accessible and affordable for people in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in the near future.