NEW DELHI: As many as 46 under-served and unserved airports and airstrips in the North East, including Shillong airport, will be put to use under the novel Regional Connectivity Scheme ‘UDAN’ that will enable common men in landlocked and water-locked states to fly at a subsidised rate, the Civil Aviation ministry announced on Friday.
UDAN, or ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’, is an innovative scheme to develop the regional aviation market and the airlines will bid for seat subsidies, Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Friday while unveiling the scheme for the hilly and island states.
The North East, which was the centre of action during the two world wars and the wars with China and Pakistan, has many unserved and underserved airports, reports available at the conference said. The four underserved airports in the region are Shillong, Jorhat, Lilabari and Tezpur.
There are 36 unserved airports and airstrips in the North East, of which 20 are in Assam. Arunachal Pradesh has nine such airports, Meghalaya and Tripura have three each, Manipur has two and Mizoram one. The unserved airports in Meghalaya are in Tura, Shella and Dwara, the reports said.
The scheme, which will be for a period of 10 years, will provide connectivity to unserved and underserved airports through revival of the existing airstrips and airports. Airlines and helicopter operators can start operations on hitherto unconnected routes by submitting proposals to the Centre.
The operators can seek a viability gap funding (VGF), besides various concessions and such route proposals will then be offered for competitive bidding through a reverse bidding mechanism. The route will be awarded to the participant quoting the lowest VGF per seat. The operator submitting the original proposal will have the Right of First Refusal on matching the lowest bid in case his original bid is within 10% of the lowest bid.
The successful bidder will then have exclusive rights to operate on the route for three years. Support will be withdrawn after three years as by that time, the route is expected to become self-sustainable.
The selected airline operator will have to provide a minimum of nine and a maximum of 40 UDAN seats at subsidised rates for operations through fixed wing aircraft and a minimum of five and a maximum of 13 seats on the flights for operations through helicopters, the minister said.
On each route, the minimum frequency will be three and maximum of seven departures per week. Route networks will also be encouraged under the scheme to achieve economies of scale and optimal usage of aircraft.
“This first-of-its-kind scheme globally will create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable for the common man even in small towns,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Raju expressed hope that the first flight under the scheme would be able to take off by January next year. He said the scheme was prepared after consultations with stakeholders.
UDAN is also likely to give a fillip to tourism and employment generation in the hinterland. Through introduction of helicopters and small aircraft, it is also likely to significantly reduce travel time in remote and hilly regions and islands.
Meant for the common man, the fare for a one-hour journey of about 500 km on a fixed wing aircraft or for half an hour journey on a helicopter will be capped at Rs 2,500 with proportionate pricing for routes of different stage length or flight duration.
This will be achieved through a financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators and a Viability Gap Funding to the interested airlines to kick-off operations from such airports so that the passenger fares are kept affordable, the Minister added.
The partner state governments (other than North Eastern states and Union Territories where contribution will be 10 %) would contribute a 20% share to this fund. For balanced regional growth, the allocations under the scheme would be equitably spread across the five geographical regions of the country- North, West, South, East and North East, he added.
The states have a key role under the scheme. The selection of airports where UDAN operations will start will be done in consultation with state governments and after confirmation of their concessions. It may be recalled that revival of dysfunctional airports and starting operations on unserved airports has been a long-standing demand of most states and this will be addressed through UDAN to a large extent.
