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Thirteen airports that get no flights currently will see regular services starting soon. These include Kalaburagi, Amravati, Car Nicobar and Kalaikunda. This follows the Ministry of Civil Aviation announcing the results of the third round of the regional air connectivity scheme (UDAN) which saw the entry of two new operators, including Andaman Airways, the inclusion of sea plane operations, and launch of international flights from Guwahati to Bangkok and Dhaka.
Also, 235 new routes have been awarded to 11 operators, an official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said after the results of UDAN-III were announced.
RN Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation, said that the existing flyers will not be burdened due to the launch of the third round of UDAN as the quantum of viability gap funding, which has to be provided to operators of UDAN flights, will be collected from the dividend that the Airports Authority of India pays to the government
The regional air connectivity scheme, which was launched by the Prime Minister in 2017, seeks to allow the common man to fly at affordable fares. The scheme provides VGF for operators who cap fares on regional flights at ₹2,500 for one hour of flying.
Routes awarded
SpiceJet, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Air India subsidiary Alliance and Turbo Aviation Pvt Ltd are among the operators that have bagged the new routes awarded under UDAN III, according to officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
In Karnataka, the routes awarded include flights from Bengaluru connecting Kalaburagi which has been awarded to Godawat and Alliance Air and from Bengaluru to Agra, which IndiGo has been given the right to operate. SpiceJet has been awarded the right to fly from Bengaluru to Gwalior.
IndiGo, SpiceJet and Turbo Megha have also been allowed to connect Belagavi to Hyderabad while Alliance Air has won the right to operate from Belagavi to Pune. SpiceJet has been awarded the right to connect Chennai to Durgapur and Tanjore to Bengaluru. In Telangana, Turbo Aviation has been given permission to start services from Hyderabad to Nagarjuna Sagar, which will be a sea plane route.
The tourism sector routes will be those which will be operated to major tourism sites which might not have connectivity by air, currently.
SpiceJet has been awarded the right to operate a daily flight from Guwahati to Bangkok and Dhaka under UDAN International for which the Assam state government will provide VGF of ₹11 crore annually to the airline.
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