The government on Thursday announced the list of airlines that will be connecting unserved airports in the country. In the first round of bidding, Air Odisha Aviation has won the bid to connect the maximum number of unserved airports in the country.
Other carriers which have won the bids to fly to unserved airports in tier-2 cities include Air India's subsidiary Alliance Air, Air Deccan, SpiceJet, Air Odisha and Turbo Megha.
50 per cent of seats on every flight will cost Rs 2,500 per seat under the UDAN scheme. This will be applicable for flights where the distance is less than 500 km or one-hour.
Over 45 unserved and under-served airports would be connected under the scheme - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) that seeks to make flying more affordable.
“UDAN network will cover the whole country, giving a major economic boost to hinterland areas,” Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju tweeted.
“This will have a positive effect on the economy, in terms of employment and investment,” Raju added.
India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew at a record breaking rate of 23 per cent in 2016 - amongst the highest in the world.
Unseating Japan, India became the third largest aviation market in domestic air traffic with 100 million passengers in 2016.
In a century of Civil Aviation in India, only 76 airports became operational with scheduled commercial flights. With UDAN, the government plans to connect 33 unserved airports.Some of the cities that will be connected include Shimla, Kandla, Puducherry, Bhatinda, Cooch Behar, Ludhiana, Jaisalmer, Porbandar, Diu, Jamnagar, Jamshedpur, Hosur, Salem, etc. (www.businesstoday.in)
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