New strength to the wings on five routes in Maharashtra under UDAN scheme

18 Jan 2019 12:27:59

Mumbai, Jan 18: Five routes in Maharashtra will under UDAN scheme resume from February 13. A new boost to air travel in the state which will be at a very low fare rate.

According to a government official, Mumbai-Nashik, Mumbai-Jalgaon, Mumbai-Kolhapur, Mumbai-Solapur and Nashik-Pune air services will commence again, adding that these routes have been allotted to two airline companies According to a government official, Mumbai-Nashik, Mumbai-Jalgaon, Mumbai-Kolhapur, Mumbai-Solapur and Nashik-Pune air services will commence again, adding that these routes have been allotted to two airline companies.


In addition to this, two new routes Nashik-Prayagraj and Nashik-Hindon are also expected to start soon, he added.

Under the 'Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik' (UDAN) scheme, nine airports in the state Nashik, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nanded, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Amravati and Gondia were selected. It has been proposed to start 28 routes in the state under the scheme.

Currently, Nashik-Delhi, Nanded-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Nanded, Kolhapur-Hyderabad, Kolhapur-Bengaluru and Kolhapur-Hubli routes are operational under the scheme, the official said.

Under the scheme, 50 per cent seats in aeroplanes are offered at concessional rates to passengers.

In case of these seats remaining vacant, the Centre and the respective state offer subsidy in the form of Value Gap Funding (VGF) to the airline company to compensate for the loss.

What is UDAN scheme?

The UDAN Scheme is a key component of the Prime Narendra Modi's National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) which was released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India) on June 15, 2016. The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments, several states have come on board by signing the "Memorandum of Understanding" with the union government for this scheme.

It aims to Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, the First component is to develop new and enhance the existing regional airports to increase the number of operational airports for the scheduled civilian flights from 70 to at least 150 airports.

The Second component is to add several hundred financially-viable capped-airfare new regional flight routes to connect more than 100 underserved and unserved airports in smaller towns with each other as well as with well-served airports in bigger cities by using "Viability Gap Funding" (VGF) where needed.

UDAN-RCS Round-I concluded in April 2017, 5 airlines companies were awarded 128 fixed-wing flight routes to 70 airports.

UDAN-RCS Round-II results will be awarded in late December 2017, from among the 141 proposals received for 502 new regional routes from 17 airlines and helicopter companies to operate flight services.

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