PM Narendra Modi will flag off the first regional flight under the ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)’ scheme on Thursday. The flight will be between Shimla and Delhi, the aviation ministry announced on Wednesday.
“The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first UDAN flight under RCS on Shimla-Delhi sector on April 27. Simultaneously, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will also flag off the inaugural UDAN flights on Kadapa – Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad sectors,” reads a release from the government.
“Airfare for a 1-hour journey of almost 500 km on a fixed wing aircraft or for 30 minute journey on a helicopter would be capped at Rs 2,500,” the PMO said. “This with proportionate pricing for routes of different stage lengths and flight duration,” it added.
UDAN is a unique scheme worldwide to encourage regional connectivity through a market-based mechanism, said the PMO in a tweet.
The ‘Ude Deshka Aam Naagrik’ (UDAN) regional connectivity scheme was launched in October, 2016 by aviation ministry. The government will offer air connectivity to unserved and underserved airports in the country under the scheme.
“The UDAN Scheme is a key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) which was released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 15th June, 2016. The AAI followed a transparent bidding process by inviting interested bidders and airline operators to submit their Initial Proposals under the provisions of Regional Connectivity Scheme and subsequently inviting counter proposals against such Initial Proposals. The routes and networks are awarded to bidders who submitted valid proposals and quoted the lowest viability gap funding (VGF) from the government for such routes and networks,” added a release from the government.
PM Modi will launch the scheme from Shimla.
