Mass aviation. UDAN’s impressive citizen flight log

Travel from Kolhapur to Mumbai takes a little over 10 hours by train and seven by bus. More than 4,000 people travel between these cities daily. The UDAN flight operated by Star Air has crunched the travel time to less than 40 minutes. But before these flights could take wing, the airport at Kolhapur — a tier II city in Maharashtra — had to be developed to handle the load.

Thanks to the UDAN or Ude Desh ki Aam Nagrik — aviation for the average citizen — scheme, today smaller towns and cities across the country are connected by air. A part of the National Civil Aviation Policy released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in June 2016, the scheme is jointly funded by the central and state governments.

Six years on, the civil aviation ministry has utilised 70 per cent of the funds allocated under UDAN and associated schemes to upgrade airport infra, as per documents reviewed by businesssline.

Across five rounds of funding, of the proposed ₹4,499.57 crore investment, ₹3,717.48 crore has been “put to use”.

Airports in Uttar Pradesh secured ₹1,128 crore, followed by those in Maharashtra (₹561 crore), and Odisha (₹419 crore) for infrastructure development. “These investments have resulted in significant progress, with airports in these states witnessing commendable infrastructure upgrade,” a ministry official said.

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A bigger target

The second phase of the UDAN scheme — aimed at making short-haul destinations popular and affordable for the general populace, received an initial allocation of ₹410 crore. It involved upgrading infrastructure at 15 airports, heliports, and water aerodromes.

The Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust has accumulated ₹3,659 crore and disbursed ₹3,020 crore to various airline operators, as part of the viability gap funding that the civil aviation ministry offers the operators to help run the routes successfully.

Also read: UDAN scheme witnesses steady growth

The goal of creating 1,000 UDAN routes and developing 100 un-served and underserved airports by 2024 remains top priority, the ministry official said, adding that allocations were hiked to ₹1,000 crore for the second phase, which extends from 2023–26.

The target was also revised — namely the development of 50 new airports, heliports, and water aerodromes.

As of November 28, 517 routes connecting 76 airports, including nine heliports and two water aerodromes, have become operational. This, in turn, has resulted in the creation of more than 130 city-pairs (direct flights), facilitating over 2.47 lakh flights that serviced more than 130 lakh passengers since the launch of the scheme.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia lauded the scheme’s progress, saying, “Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN has enhanced air connectivity with hitherto un-served/ underserved airports in remote areas of the country.”

The aircraft deployed for UDAN flights include everything from the three-seater Tecnam and nine-seater Cessna 208B, to the 19-seater Twin Otter, 50-seater Embraer 145, 42/72/78-seater ATR and Q-400, as well as larger aircraft like the 189-seater Airbus 320/321 and B737.

Private airlines step up

The UDAN scheme envisages using smaller aircraft — 20-80 seater — to connect more regions and create new domestic hubs. It has also facilitated the birth of new airlines like IndiaOne, Star Air, FlyBig, and Fly91.

The UDAN scheme has been enthusiastically welcomed by private players, including privatised behemoth Air India.

Also read: Air transport: UDAN 5.0 all set for takeoff with major changes

Campbell Wilson, CEO and Managing Director of Air India, credited both the privatisation of the erstwhile national carrier and the UDAN scheme for the development of under-penetrated routes and airport infrastructure.

IndiGo, the country’s largest carrier by market share, is an active participant in the UDAN scheme.

In a recent interview with businessline, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, pointed to the airline’s addition of three ATRs in the previous quarter to expand connectivity on both UDAN and other smaller routes like Delhi-Dharamshala. He highlighted the challenge of balancing market demand and capacity.

IndiGo has connected underserved towns and cities such as Deoghar in Jharkhand; Kadapa and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh; Jharsuguda in Odisha; Shivamogga in Karnataka; Pantnagar in Uttarakhand; Darbhanga in Bihar; and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

Regional airline Star Air secured 40 new routes — connecting primarily tier II and III cities — under UDAN 5.0, making it India’s largest private regional airline.

Beyond the subsidy runway

While UDAN has been feted for revitalising local economies and airports, there have also been concerns over the commercial viability of the smaller routes beyond the three-year exclusivity and subsidy period.

Some routes have already proven to be unviable in the longer run.

Responses tabled by the Civil Aviation Ministry before Parliament show that 103 regional connectivity routes were discontinued after three years and 136 routes were discontinued even before the three-year period once the viability gap funding ended.

Six operators that were awarded routes under UDAN never commenced operations, the report stated.

Aviation analyst Ameya Joshi called for a revitalised scheme to ensure sustainability and prudent use of resources.

After all, few would question the many positives accrued from the citizen’s aviation scheme.

VK Singh, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said in his reply to Parliament that the government’s efforts in liberalising flight training institutions and supporting aviation companies through the UDAN scheme had aided their recovery from Covid-related losses.

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