On 27th of April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the cheap flights scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) from Shimla. The scheme aims at helping people to fly at cheap rates from small towns. In the series of tweets, it was announced that the airfare for a one-hour journey of 500 km has been capped at INR 2,500 inclusive of all taxes. For longer routes, the pricing may vary.
Three inaugural flights were launched in the sectors of Shimla-Delhi, Kadapa-Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad by Mr. Modi.
8 Main Highlights About the Scheme UDAN:
- UDAN is first-of-its-kind scheme to improve regional connectivity through a market-based mechanism.
- In the coming days, 43 cities are expected to be mainstreamed on India’s flight connectivity grid.
- Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air is the first airline to start operating flights between Delhi and Shimla under the Regional Connectivity Scheme.
- 27 proposals have been approved by The Airports Authority of India, which will include 27 currently served airports, 12 currently underserved airports and 31 currently unserved airports connected.
- Of the total of 70 airports, 24 airports are from the western region, 17 in the north, 11 in the south, 12 in the east and 6 in the northeast.
- The chosen airline companies include Airline Allied Services (Alliance Air), SpiceJet, Turbo Megha Airways, Air Deccan and Air Odisha.
- The seating capacity of aircraft will range from 19 to 78 seats.
- Delhi to Shimla by air will just take 1 hour, which is usually 9 hours by road.
These are all the updates for now. We will keep you posted with further information 🙂
