21 UDAN routes connecting Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand to be bid in a week

UDAN, short for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, is a government sponsored scheme to connect tier-II and tier-III cities with tier-I or metro cities. The scheme aims to make air travel affordable for economically weaker citizens by capping fares, for every one hour flight, at Rs 2,500.

Also read: UDAN 3: Centre announces regional connectivity for 235 routes

The scheme, launched in 2016-17, is funded by the government through a Viability Gap Fund, where the government reimburses the airlines for subsidised pricing.

Centre, on January 25, released 235 routes that were awarded under third phase of the scheme. Certain routes, however, were yet to be finalised in consultation with state governments and were withheld by the ministry.

Ministry of civil aviation has already awarded 128 routes under the first phase of UDAN and 312 routes under the second phase. Of these, 76 routes are operational under the former and 60 are operational under the latter.

India has close to 100 airports that are operational at the moment coupled with 31 helipads that are being prepared for operation.

The 235 routes, under the third phase, will provide connectivity to 16 new airports, 17 under-served airports, 50 served airports and six aerodromes, taking the total connectivity to 89 airports under the this phase.