By Kamal Shah
India’s aviation narrative has long been dominated by the bustling terminals of Delhi and Mumbai and the low-cost carriers connecting its megacities. Yet, a quieter, more transformative revolution is taking wing. Across the vast subcontinent, a network of regional air routes is stitching together tier-2 and tier-3 cities, turning distant towns into connected communities. This seismic shift, propelled by visionary policy and economic pragmatism, is not merely adding flights—it is fundamentally reshaping mobility, d
Democratizing opportunity and positioning India as a unique blueprint for emerging economies worldwide. At the heart of this aerial metamorphosis is the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, a flagship initiative with a simple, powerful goal: to make flying affordable and accessible for the common citizen.
India’s plans for regional aircraft networks are ambitious and align with the country’s goal of becoming a global aviation hub. Through initiatives like UDAN, infrastructure development, and technological integration, India is making significant strides in connecting its remote and underserved regions. While challenges remain, the government’s proactive approach and collaboration with stakeholders are expected to drive regional air connectivity, fostering economic development and improving the quality of life for millions of citizens.
The scale of ambition is staggering. From 74 airports in 2014, India’s operational airport count has surged past 163. The government’s revamped vision for UDAN, announced in the 2025-26 budget, aims to connect 120 new destinations and serve a projected 4 crore passengers, directly feeding into the national mission of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’. This is more than infrastructure; it is a re-imagination of national geography. The success is already visible: as of early 2025, the scheme had activated over 619 routes, linking 88 airports and heliports, and fundamentally shattering the elite privilege of air travel.
Globally, the regional aviation segment—typically served by turboprop aircraft and smaller regional jets with 20 to 100 seats—forms the essential capillary network of a nation’s air transport system. While wide-body jets connect continents and narrow-bodies shuttle between major hubs, it is the regional aircraft that enable the crucial first and last mile of air connectivity.
For markets like India’s emerging routes, regional aircraft, particularly turboprops like the ATR 72 and Bombardier Q400, are uniquely suited. They offer superior fuel efficiency on short-haul sectors (under 500 km), can operate from shorter, simpler runways often found at regional airstrips, and have lower operational costs, making thinner routes financially viable.
Internationally, studies consistently show that introducing regional air service is a powerful economic catalyst. It enables quick business travel, fosters tourism, improves access to specialized healthcare and education, and facilitates the faster movement of high-value, perishable cargo. India’s push to leverage regional networks for cargo and logistics, including the use of drones for last-mile delivery, exemplifies this multi-role potential.
UDAN’s genius lies in its pragmatic design, which directly addresses the market failure that left smaller cities unconnected. The scheme’s core mechanism is a subsidy provided to airlines to offset initial losses on new, non-viable routes. This VGF, shared between the central government and the state concerned, de-risks airline operations for a fixed period, usually three years, allowing passenger demand to mature. Fares are capped to ensure affordability, with half the seats on every flight offered at discounted rates.
A key strategy has been the resurrection of underutilized or dormant airstrips. India is dotted with such infrastructure, legacy assets from a bygone era. UDAN provides a purpose and an economic model to revitalize them into ‘No-Frills Airports’—functional terminals with basic, cost-effective infrastructure. This approach avoids the colossal investment needed for greenfield airports and accelerates growth. The scheme has creatively expanded the definition of connectivity. It now includes routes for seaplanes and amphibious aircraft, connecting remote, water-bound areas where building a traditional runway is impossible. This innovative thinking underscores a commitment to leave no region behind.
The social and economic ripples of this connectivity are profound. For a business owner in Dibrugarh, a student in Jalgaon, or a farmer with perishable produce in Puducherry, an airport link means access to larger markets, premier institutions, and better prices. It fosters a sense of inclusion in the national economic mainstream. As Consulting Editor Bikram Vohra notes, an airport in a small town can transform into a catalyst, “attracting businesses, tourism, and investment.”
However, the flight path to a fully connected India is not without turbulence. Stakeholders must navigate several persistent challenges:
Many regional airports still lack advanced infrastructure, affecting operational efficiency. For airlines, the economics of low-density routes remain precarious. Maintaining schedule reliability and managing costs with lower passenger volumes is a constant tightrope. Coordination among multiple agencies for slots, security, and ground handling can lead to delays, slowing the pace of launching new routes.
A significant bottleneck is the limited supply of suitable aircraft. The global demand for efficient turboprops outstrips supply, driving up leasing costs. While Indian airlines have added ATRs and Embraer jets, a sustainable long-term solution hinges on domestic
Recognizing this critical dependency, India has embarked on an ambitious journey to design and build its own regional aircraft. The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is spearheading the SARAS programme to develop a certified 19-seater multi-role aircraft. Its success would be a game-changer, reducing foreign-exchange outflows, tailoring aircraft to Indian conditions, and creating a high-tech aerospace ecosystem.
The government is fostering an environment for this leap through policy reforms, encouraging Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for airport development, and simplifying regulations. Major domestic carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet have launched regional subsidiaries, creating a dedicated focus on this segment. Furthermore, India’s aviation growth is increasingly guided by principles of environmental sustainability. The promotion of fuel-efficient turboprops, the development of ‘green airports’ powered by solar and water-harvesting systems, and the exploration of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) ensure that this expansion is responsible and future-ready.
As India’s aviation sector continues its stratospheric rise—propelled by new entrants like Shankh Air, FlyExpress, and Alhindair—the regional segment will be its most dynamic frontier. The experiences of 2025 have shown that sustainable growth will be shaped less by capacity ambition alone and more by regulatory readiness, safety discipline, and operational resilience.
In the 19 to 72-seat regional aviation market, airlines primarily choose between two aircraft types: fuel-efficient turboprops and versatile regional jets. A key 2025 order from Taiwanese airline UNI Air for 19 new ATR 72-600s, which carry 70-78 passengers, underscores the ongoing demand for modern turboprops. These aircraft are valued for their low operating costs and ability to serve regional and island networks.
For higher-speed, longer-range needs within this seat bracket, regional jets are the preferred option. The market has historically been dominated by two main families:
Models like the Embraer’s E170 (66-78 seats) and E175 (76-88 seats) are widely used, especially in North America.
The CRJ700 (65-78 seats) and CRJ900 (76-90 seats) were major competitors, though production ended in 2020.
A major factor shaping the regional jet market in North America is pilot union “scope clauses.” These labor agreements often limit the maximum seating capacity and the weight of aircraft that regional partners can operate for major airlines. This has specifically driven continued demand for the first-generation Embraer E175, as its newer, more efficient E2 variant exceeds typical weight limits.
The global trend is toward fleet modernization to improve fuel efficiency and passenger experience. This is reflected in a growing aircraft seating market, projected to reach $15.0 billion by 2035, driven by new aircraft deliveries and cabin upgrades.
Modern turboprops like the ATR 72-600 offer enhanced cabins and next-generation engines that lower emissions by up to 45% compared to similar-sized regional jets, aligning with sustainability goals.
For the regional jet sector, manufacturers face the challenge of developing new aircraft that meet strict scope clause requirements while incorporating next-generation efficiency. The success of future models will depend on balancing these technical specifications with airline economic needs.
Take Deutsche Aircraft. It is a German aerospace manufacturer formed in 2020, focused on producing modernized turboprop aircraft. It builds on the legacy of the Dornier 328 program and is owned by the U.S.-based Sierra Nevada Corporation.
The company’s primary product is the D328eco, a next-generation, 40-seat turboprop airliner. The first test aircraft was rolled out in May 2025, with entry into service targeted for the final quarter of 2027.
Key Features: The D328eco is a stretched and upgraded version of the original Dornier 328. It is designed for sustainability, certified to run on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), and offers improved fuel efficiency. It also features strong short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance for operating from challenging airfields. Beyond the D328eco, Deutsche Aircraft also provides support and services for the existing global fleet of original Dornier 328 aircraft.
Russia’s decision to showcase the Ilyushin IL-114-300 and Superjet SJ-100 at Wings India 2026 in Hyderabad on 28 January is an electrifying pivot in India-Russia cooperation, thrusting their long-standing defence partnership decisively into the civil aviation arena and targeting the lucrative, fast-growing regional market that connects tier-two and tier-three cities; with India’s UDAN-driven expansion carrying some 18–36 million passengers annually, a domestically produced fleet of 68-seat turboprops like the IL-114-300—priced competitively against ATR and Dash-8 types—could unlock a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem across sales, leasing, training, and especially MRO, creating specialized jobs, retaining foreign exchange, and positioning India as a regional support hub, while supplier diversification strengthens Delhi’s negotiating stance and offers Moscow vital market scale and engineering talent amid constrained Western access.
The future will belong to stakeholders who align expansion with robust compliance planning, workforce development, well-maintained assets, robust Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) capabilities, and structured leasing strategies. The goal is clear: to transition regional connectivity from a subsidized public policy to a self-sustaining, profitable market that forms the resilient backbone of Indian aviation.
India’s regional aviation story is still being written, but its first chapters offer a compelling narrative. It demonstrates how targeted policy, public investment, and private enterprise can converge to bridge geographical and economic divides. By turning its regional skies into highways of opportunity, India is not just enhancing internal mobility; it is crafting a model of inclusive development that the world is watching closely. The message is clear: in India’s journey to become a global aviation leader, every city, no matter how small, has a seat on the plane.
