Centre to award UDAN-III routes soon
News
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation will award new regional connectivity routes under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) III
Important facts
UDAN and Its Phases
- UDAN scheme was launched in n 2016 to make air travel affordable through subsidised tickets and to provide its access to smaller towns.
- It aims to connect major cities with tier-II and tier-III cities at a price of Rs 2,500 per one-hour flight.
- In its first phase in 2017, 5 airlines were mandated to fly on 128 regional routes
- In the second phase in 2018 15 airlines on 325 regional routes including those having chopper operations were mandated.
- The third round of bidding under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN for domestic routes concluded recently and 15 airlines had bid for a total 111 routes.
Setback to the scheme:
- Air Odisha and Air Deccan despite getting regional connectivity routes, could not launch many flights due to lack of resources. This has been a major setback for the scheme.
Additional Information
Vision 2040
- The government is also set to launch a Vision 2040 for the aviation sector. Vision 2040 is an effort to formulate a clear strategy for India’s growth in the aviation sector.
- The policy will focus on manufacturing aircraft in India, on technology, finance and areas of growth in order to leverage the most from the aviation sector