86.05 lakhs passengers travelled under RCS- UDAN flights till January 9: Aviation Ministry

Governments efforts to make air travel affordable and cheaper for common people has been successfully implemented through its regional connectivity scheme called UDAAN.

Minister of State in the Ministry Of Civil Aviation (Gen (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) while giving a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, presented the success story of the scheme. It has been very successful and over 86 lakh passengers have availed the benefit so far since the launch of the scheme in 2016.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, “Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN (Ude Deshka Aam Nagrik) on 21-10-2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and making 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 achievements under the UDAN scheme and measures to boost civil aviation sector in the country are as under:

Till date, out of 948 valid routes, 403 routes involving 65 airports (including 8 heliports & 02 water aerodromes) have been operationalised across the country under UDAN.

Approximately 86.05 lakhs passengers have travelled on UDAN flights since its commencement till 09.01.2022.

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 significant increase in helicopter services in hilly areas and islands through use of heliports.

The linkage between the Civil Aviation Sector and Economic Growth is well recognized. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) study shows that the air connectivity has an economic multiplier of 3.1 and employment multiplier of 6.1.

COVID guidelines/protocols for the Airline are framed in consultation with Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to boost confidence of the air travellers during COVID-19 pandemic.

The other steps include e-boarding, web check-in, contactless dropping of baggage, etc.