UDAN Scheme: What is UDAN Scheme?, Application, Progress..

What is udan scheme?

The government has launched a programme called UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) to link the underutilised and unserviced airports in the nation. Five airlines have been awarded contracts under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of the Centre to run 128 flights linking 70 airports. Of the 70 airports, 12 are underserved and 31 are unserved. Unserved airports are ones with no operations, whilst under-served airports are those with no more than one flight per day. The inaugural UDAN flight is anticipated to begin early next month

Application of the Udan Scheme

In this plan, the airline submitted a proposal for the flight route.
The contract is given to the business that requests the smallest subsidy.
In accordance with this plan, the airline must reserve half of each flight’s seats, or a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 40.
Small cities in the nation will be connected to the nation through this plan.
Currently, a taxi ride costs Rs 10 per km, but under this programme, the rate for a 500 km flight has only been set at Rs 2500, or Rs 5 per kilometre, which is less than the cost of a taxi ride.
The country’s residents will save time and money by putting this plan into practise.

Udan Scheme's Progress

This plan has approved divided into four parts, namely Udan 1, Udan 2, Udan 3, and Udan 4.
Currently, there are 59 airports serving more than 350 routes with air service offered by 5 helicopters and 2 aerodromes.
Within the scheme, the government has incorporated a seaplane and helicopter service.
Under the plan, 11 carriers are offering travellers discounted fares.
Up till June 28, 2021, 132800 flights have been place under the programme.
To enable customers to purchase tickets at a discount, the government has provided a subsidy of Rs 1228 crore.
Under this programme, almost 60 lakh individuals have travelled for a reasonable price.
Small and medium city airports now account for 5% more airports nationwide.
The government will add 100 extra airports and 1000 new routes.
Ten airports have been suggested under the plan in the Northeastern states.
Under this programme, the government has set a goal of offering 1 crore tickets to citizens each year at reasonable prices.
Under the plan, 300 cities throughout the nation will be connected to one another. 150 cities have already been linked out of these 300 cities.

What is International UDAN Scheme?

The local UDAN programme is expanded by the international UDAN programme.
The idea is to immediately connect certain important international locations nearby to smaller Indian cities.
By encouraging visitors and business travellers to go through smaller towns rather than through major cities, the administration hoped that this direct air link would aid in the growth of the city and the State.
Here, the Open Skies policy may be used, allowing flights to and from 18 Indian locations from Asia and other countries to be direct and unrestricted.
The airlines may have been reluctant to operate these routes since they had not yet been tested.
The government gives a subsidy in the form of a predetermined payout to entice people to join.

Udan 5.0

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has finally started the fifth round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), also known as Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) or UDAN 5.0, with the goal of achieving last mile connectivity after four successful rounds of bidding. The fifth round of the same-named bidding procedure for various routes was launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on April 21.