India Extends UDAN Scheme: Affordable Flights Guaranteed For Another Decade

In yet another interesting and dynamic turn of events, the Government of India has decided to continue the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Am Nagrik) for ten more years. This was made known to the public by K. Rammohan Naidu the Union Civil Aviation Minister at an event.

India Extends UDAN Scheme: Affordable Flights Guaranteed For Another Decade

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Under this approach which the government is adopting, the objective is to uplift the regional air travel development, provision of services and economic activity in the areas that previously had minimal or no flights for connectivity. While speaking at an event in the national capital marking eight years of UDAN, the Minister pointed out that the government’s this scheme has aided the expansion of regional airlines tremendously. Not to mention, this particular effort also propelled job opportunities, and triggered growth in the tourism sector.

Since the inception of the scheme on 21st October 2016 UDAN has operationalized around 601 routes and 71 airports making air travel more affordable and accessible to the average Indian traveler. The essence of this proposal centers on the peripheral areas and making them connect with large cities and hubs while air transport aimed for these regions has a limited geographical outreach.

The UDAN scheme, which was projected to endure for a decade will now be viewed with an extension as a solution in strengthening the regional connectivity and keeping up with the curve of growth in the aviation sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Vumlunmang Vualnam, Secretary, Civil Aviation, highlighted how the focus of the government has been directed towards making the operations of the scheme more financially acceptable and less cumbersome. This indicates that while the scheme has worked, it can still be enhanced more so as ensuring the sustainability of the airlines in the UDAN fold.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation also informed that more than 2.8 lakh flights have been benefitted to more than 1.44 crores population across 86 aerodromes, including 71 airports, 13 heliports and 2 water aerodromes, which were brought into operation under UDAN. The airport network of India which was 74 in 2014 has reached 157 in 2024 and it is the aim of the government to extend it to 350-400 airports by the year 2047.

With the extension of UDAN, the intention of the government is to build on the existing successes ensuring that air transportation is modally integrated in the day to day life of many more citizens of the country.