Ministry of Civil Aviation’s flagship program Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik) has completed 5 years of success since the launch of it first flight by Prime Minister on 27th April 2017.
The scheme was initiated on 21st October 2016 with the objective to fulfil the aspirations of the common citizen by following the vision of ‘UdeDeshkaAamNagrik’, with an enhanced aviation infrastructure and air connectivity in tier II and tier III cities.
In the last five years, UDAN has significantly increased the regional air-connectivity in the country. There were 74 operational airports in 2014. Because of the UDAN scheme this number has increased to 141 by now.
68 underserved/unserved destinations which include 58 Airports, 8 Heliports & 2 Water Aerodromes have been connected under UDAN scheme.
With 425 new routes initiated under the scheme, UDAN has provided air connectivity to more than 29 States/ UTs across the length and breadth of the country.
More than one crore passengers have availed the benefits of this scheme as on 4th August 2022. The scheme has also provided a much-needed platform to the regional carriers to scale up their operations.
220 destinations (airports/heliports/water aerodromes) under UDAN are targeted to be completed by 2026 with 1000 routes to provide air connectivity to unconnected destinations in the country. Under UDAN, 954 routes have already been awarded to connect 156 airports.
UDAN created a framework based on the need and led to the formulation of:
- Lifeline UDAN (for transportation of medical cargo during pandemic).
- Krishi UDAN (value realization of agriculture products especially in Northeastern Region {NER} and tribal districts).
- International UDAN routes for NER to explore International Connectivity from / to Guwahati and Imphal.