Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced the launch of a modified UDAN (Uday Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, as part of her Budget 2025-26 proposals, to enhance regional connectivity to 120 new destinations and carry 4 crore passengers in the next 10 years.

This scheme will also support helipads and smaller airports in hilly, aspirational, and North East region districts, the Finance Minister said. Praising the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN, she said in her speech that UDAN has enabled 1.5 crore middle-class people to meet their aspirations for speedier travel.

The scheme has connected 88 airports and operationalised 619 routes. Inspired by that success, She also informed the house that the government will facilitate the upgradation of infrastructure and warehousing for air cargo including high-value perishable horticulture produce. Cargo screening and customs protocols will also be streamlined and made user-friendly.

Giving infrastructure a fillip to Bihar, the Union Finance Minister proposed that the Greenfield airports will be facilitated in Bihar to meet the future needs of the state. These will be in addition to the expansion of the capacity of Patna airport and a brownfield airport at Bihta. Financial support will also be provided for the Western Koshi Canal ERM Project benefitting a large number of farmers cultivating over 50,000 hectares of land in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar.

The civil aviation sector has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country and plays a critical role in economic growth and job creation. There has been a rapid expansion in airports, airline fleets have grown, and cargo operations have surged, all verticals related to civil aviation have pushed boundaries.

India has now become the third-largest domestic aviation hub in the whole world a senior official said. India’s domestic air passenger traffic rose by 6.12 per cent to 16.13 crore in 2024 from 15.2 crore in the previous year, according to the latest data compiled by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The country’s commercial airlines also flew more than 1.49 crore passengers on domestic routes in December 2024, which represents an increase of 8.19 per cent compared to the corresponding figure of 1.38 crore for December 2023.

–IANS

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Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar virtually flagged off 8 new routes bolstering the aerial connectivity from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra & Gujarat. Member of Parliament from Jabalpur, Rakesh Singh, and Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation along with other senior officials of the ministry were also present during the flag off.

JyotiradityaScindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, said “I would like to congratulate the people of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat on the commencement of the new flight operations. Besides, additional flights between the Delhi-Jabalpur route will also commence from July 18 onwards, and Khajuraho-Delhi-Khajuraho flights from October 2021 onwards. We are committed to bolster regional air connectivity and take the Prime Minister’s vision of Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) to greater heights!”

The airlines M/S SpiceJet will commence operations on these 8 new routes: Gwalior-Mumbai-Gwalior, Gwalior-Pune-Gwalior, Jabalpur-Surat-Jabalpur, and Ahmedabad-Gwalior-Ahmedabad route.

Gwalior is one of the first airports of Madhya Pradesh to be connected with the UDAN route and further enhancements in the air traffic led to the advent of additional regional routes. Gwalior is now well connected with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, & Jammu as UDAN routes and Mumbai, Pune, & Ahmedabad as non-UDAN routes. The city is famous for its historical buildings like- Gwalior Fort, SaasBahu Temple, Tomb of Mohammad Ghaus, PhoolBagh, Gujari Mahal Museum, TeliKaMandir, Gwalior Zoo, Moti Mahal & Jai Vilas Palace. The new routes will boost the aerial connectivity of Gwalior, the tourism city of Madhya Pradesh with the trade hubs of India, Maharashtra & Gujarat, and further improve economic activity.

The commencement of these routes fulfils the objectives of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to enhance the regional connectivity of the Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities with the metro cities of the country. With the flag-off, Jabalpur airport (Madhya Pradesh) is now connected with Bangalore, Hyderabad, & Pune as non-UDAN routes & with Bilaspur as UDAN route. Jabalpur is the administrative and educational centre of Madhya Pradesh. Home to Dhuandhar Falls, Madan Mahal Fort, Balancing Rock, Bargi Dam, GurudwaraGwarighat Sahib, and Dumna Nature Reserve Park, the city is also a major tourist hub.

Inauguration of these routes achieves the aim of the Sab Uden Sab Juden initiative under the UDAN scheme to strengthen the established aerial network of the country while providing a catalyst to the local economy & tourism.

Earlier this month, under the UDAN scheme, M/S Indigo airlines started another flight to connect Kolkata, West Bengal &Imphal, Manipur with Dibrugarh, Assam.

To date, 359 routes and 59 airports including 5 heliports and 2 Water Aerodromes have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme.

The number of domestic passengers is on the rise as flying emerges as a preferred, safe & time-saving mode of transport. On 15 July 2021, 1,56,450 passengers travelled on 1,450 flights. Total flight movement was 2,915 & total passenger movement was 3,12,892.

(Published from PIB)

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Taking another step in boosting the regional aerial connectivity in India, Star Air today commenced the direct daily flight operations from Kalaburagi, Karnataka to Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh under the RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) of Government of India. Attesting the dual objectives of the UDAN scheme; making air travel affordable for the people & simultaneously enhance its coverage in the country, 305 UDAN routes & 53 airports including 5 heliports and 2 Water Aerodromes have been operationalized till date.

Inaugurated under the UDAN scheme, Kalaburagi airport recently completed a successful 1 year of service. The airport has become the fastest growing airport in the country. More than 1000 flights have ferried more than 43,000 people from the airport. To celebrate the hard work, commitment, and perseverance of the involved professionals, the officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) were present at the route launch.

MoCA had received numerous requests for the commencement of the flight operations on the route including an appeal by the Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI) for the necessity of the direct flight operations from Kalaburagi to Tirupati. Tirupati city, also called as the ‘Spiritual Capital of Andra Pradesh’, is home to the most famous and auspicious Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Temple popularly called ‘Tirupati Balaji Temple’ which has its name in the most-visited shrine across the globe. The temple attracts 50,000 to 100,000 devotees every day. Apart from the Tirupati Balaji temple, the place is also famous for other historical temples, Sri Venkateshwara National Park, Deer Park, Tirupati, & Talakona Waterfalls, Tirupati. The century old temples in Tirupati are one of the first choices of the pilgrims of the country. Moreover, the Tirumala Hills in Tirupati is the second oldest rock mountain hills in the world.

Due to the unavailability of any direct transportation mode between these two cities, people had to travel either by road or had to opt for a rail journey combined with a road trip, which took more than 12 hours by road & more than 20 hours by train & bus to cover the entire journey of 630 km. Now, people can opt for a direct flight and cover this long-distance journey in just 70 mins.

The airline, Star Air was awarded the Kalaburagi – Tirupati route under the RCS-UDAN-3 bidding process last year. The airline will be operating three weekly flights on the route and will deploy its 50-seater Embraer-145 luxury aircraft. With the flag-off, there are now 24 routes under the ambit of RCS-UDAN for Star Air.

The flights will depart from Kalaburagi on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 09:55 and will touch down at Tirupati at 11:05.

From Tirupati, the flights will depart at 14:25 and will land in Kalaburagi at 15:30 on the same days.

(Published from PIB)

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