SME Times News Bureau | 10 Oct, 2021
India has till date operationalised 381 air routes under the regional connectivity scheme 'Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' or RCS-Udan.
The
scheme was launched in 2016. Under it, airlines are provided with a
'Viability Gap Funding' to keep fares affordable and accessible.
"To
date, 381 routes and 61 airports including 5 heliports and 2 'Water
Aerodromes' have been operationalised under the Udan scheme," the
Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Saturday.
The
announcement comes on the day when Sindhudurg Airport also known as
Chipi Airport in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra was inaugurated by
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, under the Udan scheme.
Consequently,
the inauguration marked the commencement of the 61st airport under the
scheme and successful operationalisation of the 381 routes under Udan.
"Now
people can fly at ease by opting for a flight of 85 minutes from
Sindhudurg to Mumbai while earlier they were forced to opt for a road or
train travel of more than 10 hours between these two cities."
Accordingly, Alliance Air was awarded the Sindhudurg-Mumbai route under the Udan 3.1.
"The
financial incentives in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is
being provided from the Centre, State governments and airport operators
to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and
underserved airports under the scheme."
