UDAN Scheme 2023 – Govt Scheme for Cheap Air Travel at 2500/- Per Hour

To reduce the cost of air travel, the NDA administration, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has introduced the new UDAN Scheme 2023 or Udey Desh ka Aam Nagrik Yojana. People in tier 2 and tier 3 cities can now fly for as little as Rs. 2500 per hour thanks to the new UDAN programme. In this post, we'll go over all the specifics of the UDAN Yojana, the cost of tickets, how RCS operates, how airports are chosen, a list of airports that have been operationalized, and a list of routes that have been started up to July 12th, 2022.

 Objective of UDAN – Udey Desh ka Aam Nagrik

The main objective of the UDAN scheme is to provide the cheaper air travel opportunity to all the people in the country.

UDAN Scheme Fares

Under the UDAN scheme, the fare for regional domestic flights are capped at Rs. 2500/- per hour of flight for a fixed wing aircraft. One hour of flight can cover about 500 Kilometers, hence, the fare is about Rs. 5 per kilometer, way cheaper than most cab services in the country. For journey on a helicopter, the fare is capped at Rs. 2500/- for every 30 minutes, i.e. Rs. 5000 per hour.

A minimum of 9 and a maximum of 40 UDAN seats are offered on each trip to domestic regions under the UDAN scheme. While the operator will supply a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 13 UDAN seats for flights by helicopter. The price for 50% of flight seats is capped at Rs 2,500 under the UDAN programme, while the remaining seats are offered at the going rate. Also, the chosen operators must run a minimum of 3 UDAN flights and a maximum of 7 departures each week.

How the UDAN Programme Operates

Reduced excise duty, service tax, and the ability to exchange ASKMs for Non-RCS (UDAN) Tickets are just a few of the benefits that the central government offers to some airlines.

The airport operator's landing and parking fees as well as terminal navigation landing fees do not need the airlines to pay additional fees. Discounts on facility fees for route navigation are offered by the airport operators.

Choose UDAN airports

The state governments are consulted when choosing airports for the UDAN programme. Starting operations in underserved airports and bringing underperforming airports back to life remain the major priorities. Prior to this, a Regional Connectivity Fund under the UDAN programme had been established, to which the partner state governments contributed a 20% share (except from the North Eastern States and Union Territories, who will each contribute 10%). The new UDAN program's flights began operating in January 2017.

List of Airports under UDAN Scheme

List of airports under UDAN Scheme has been released at the official website of Airport Authority of India at www.aai.aero. The regional connectivity scheme (RCS) has been launched by the central government to make the air travel cheaper has started to see the sun of the day. According to industry chamber FICCI, about 68 airports across the country have been operationalized to execute operations under the scheme. Here is the direct link to check list of operationalised airports under UDAN Scheme:- UDAN Scheme Airports List PDF

The list of 68 airports has been released based upon geographical, operational and commercial parameters which are now part of regional connectivity scheme UDAN. Here is the complete List of 68 RCS Airports operationalized as on 12 July 2022. Under RCS, govt. has connected the underserved airports to key airports through flights that will cost Rs 2,500 for per hour flight. People can even check the list of 425 RCS routes commenced till 12 July 2022 in Phase 1, 2, 3 & 4.0 – https://www.aai.aero/sites/default/files/rcs_news_notifications/425_RCS_Routes_Operationalised_as_on_12.07.2022.pdf

RCS UDAN Scheme Routes List & PDF

Here is the direct link to check list of 425 RCS routes commenced as on 12 July 2022 – RCS UDAN Routes List PDF. On downloading the PDF file, the complete list of UDAN Scheme Routes List will appear.

The full study by FCCI can be downloaded in PDF format from the link below:
http://ficci.in/spdocument/20827/Avation-Background-paper.pdf