By Aritra Banerjee
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Deshka Aam Nagrik) on 21/10/2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable to the masses.
“UDAN is a market-driven ongoing scheme where bidding rounds are conducted periodically for covering more destinations/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,” the civil aviation ministry explained in its press release issued on the development.
Here are the achievements under the UDAN scheme and the measures to boost the civil aviation sector in the country
To date, out of 948 valid routes, 403 routes involving 65 airports (including eight heliports and two water aerodromes) have been operationalized across the country under UDAN.
Approximately 86.05 lakhs passengers have travelled on UDAN flights since its commencement till 9/1/2022.
UDAN has transformed the way people travel in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Regional airports like Jharsuguda, Kishangarh, Belgaum, Darbhanga, etc., have been witnessing exponential growth in air traffic.
The scheme offers a unique opportunity to a common person 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 RCS scheme.
UDAN scheme has sparked a significant increase in helicopter services in hilly areas and islands through the use of heliports.
The linkage between the Civil Aviation Sector and Economic Growth is well recognized. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) study shows that air connectivity has an economic multiplier of 3.1 and an employment multiplier of 6.1.
COVID guidelines/protocols for the Airline are framed in consultation with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to boost the confidence of the air travellers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The other steps include e-boarding, web check-in, contactless dropping of baggage, etc.
The Minister of State for Civil Aviation General (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) highlighted this in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
