GUWAHATI: The Union civil aviation ministry is planning to connect the capital city of Assam to six international destinations under the UDAN Draft Scheme Document of International Air Connectivity Scheme.
The objective of the scheme is to enhance international air connectivity between Indian states and select international destinations through provision of financial support to airlines.
The draft of the scheme has been placed in the website of ministry and Airports Authority of India for wider consultation of the stakeholders. The ministry has through a notification sought inputs and comments on the draft from interested stakeholders by September 4, 2018.
According to the scheme, the draft of which has been put up in the website of the ministry, Guwahati is likely to have direct air connectivity with Dhaka, Kathmandu, Yangon, Singapore, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur.
The draft proposes a per seat subsidy of Rs 2,370 from Guwahati to Dhaka; Rs 2,710 to Kathmandu; Rs 7,350 to Kuala Lumpur; Rs 4,770 to Yangon; Rs 7,880 to Singapore and Rs 4,400 to Bangkok;.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Union civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu said that the scheme would involve a state government-led effort wherein the state governments would propose the list of routes to be connected.
“Presently, the states of Assam and Andhra Pradesh have come forward to participate under the scheme and have identified the routes. Under the scheme, the state governments will be responsible for funding the financial benefits. The scheme envisages providing monetary support, in the form of a subsidy per seat, for the unsold seats from the number of seats as bid by the airline to make operations viable,” he tweeted.
The development is the next step after the positive domestic impact of UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik).
”With the International Air Connectivity Scheme-UDAN, we trying to make flying to international destinations more accessible to our citizens. This will help improve overall connectivity and spur trade, tourism and economic growth in the country,” Prabhu tweeted.
Stakeholders’ consultation meeting will be conducted by the ministry soon to discuss queries/inputs of concerned parties and provide clarifications, as necessary.