5 YEARS OF UDAN

ChinmayaIAS Academy - Current Affairs August 22, 2022 GS3 Leave a comment 328 Views

Recently UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik), a Regional Connectivity Scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation has completed 5 years of success since the launch of its first flight by the Prime Minister on 27th April 2017.

UDAN Scheme

UdeDeshKaAamNaagrik (UDAN) was launched as a Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2016.
It was formulated based on the review of The National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP)-2016 and it was planned to remain in force for a period of 10 years.
Under this Scheme, Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) was created, which funds the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) requirements of the scheme through a levy on certain domestic flights.
VGF means a grant one-time or deferred, provided to support infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall short of financial viability.

Objectives:

To develop the regional aviation market.
To provide affordable, economically viable and profitable air travel on regional routes to the common man even in small towns.
The scheme envisages providing connectivity to unserved and underserved airports of the country through the revival of existing air-strips and airports.
Under-served airports are those which do not have more than one flight a day, while unserved airports are those where there are no operations.
Financial incentives from the Centre, state governments and airport operators are extended to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and under-served airports, and keep airfares affordable.

Achievements

There were 74 operational airports in 2014 which has increased to 141 by now.
68 underserved/unserved destinations which include 58 Airports, 8 Heliports & 2 Water Aerodromes have been connected under UDAN scheme.
With 425 new routes initiated, UDAN has provided air connectivity to more than 29 States/ UTs across the country.
More than one crore passengers have availed the benefits of this scheme as on 4th August 2022.

Targets:

220 destinations (airports/heliports/water aerodromes) under UDAN are targeted to be completed by 2026 with 1000 routes to provide air connectivity to unconnected destinations in the country.
Under UDAN, 954 routes have already been awarded to connect 156 airports.

Way Forward

Airlines have leveraged the scheme strategically towards gaining additional slots at congested tier-1 airports, monopoly status on routes and lower operational costs.
Thus, stakeholders should work towards making the UDAN scheme sustainable on its own and improve its efficiency.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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