Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday April 27,2017 inaugurated the first Shimla-New Delhi flight under a government scheme to boost regional air connectivity.
The flight is being operated by Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India.
The airline has deployed its 42-seater ATR plane on this sector.
The Prime Minister also flagged off regional connectivity scheme (RCS) flights on the Kadapa-Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad sectors through video-conferencing.
With the RCS scheme, also called UDAN or “Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik”, the government aims to connect 45 unserved and under-served airports and make flying affordable by capping fares at Rs 2,500 per seat/ hour.
Five airlines were awarded 128 routes under the scheme last month after a bidding process.
Under the UDAN scheme, the operators would be extended viability gap funding (VGF). The amount is estimated to be around Rs 205 crore per annum for the operators chosen in the first round of bidding.
The state governments will provide a certain share of the VGF. Nineteen states and three union territories have signed a memorandum of understanding for this purpose.
Key features of the UDAN scheme -
1. The UDAN scheme aims to stimulate regional connectivity with flights covering distances up to 800 km through a market-based mechanism.
2. 43 cities are expected to be mainstreamed on India’s flight connectivity grid. A dozen airports where limited but irregular flights operate will be connected. As many as 31 destinations that are not operational despite the existence of airports will become active.
3. Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air will be the first airline to start operating flights between Delhi and Shimla under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). Alliance Air will operate regular flights using a 48-seater ATR-42 all-economy class aircraft from April 28.
4. Due to the short runway length, height and temperature restrictions, the aircraft will not be able to fly the total capacity of 48 passengers. In the Delhi-Shimla leg, the flight will carry 35 passengers while on the return only 15 passengers will be able to fly. The government is expected to compensate for the loss with a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of about Rs. 3,000 per seat.
5. The VGF will be used to bridge the gap between the cost of airline operations and expected revenue. Airline operators would be extended VGF estimated to be around Rs 205 crore per annum for the operators chosen in the first round of bidding. So far, 19 States and three union territories have signed a MoU for this purpose.
6. Among the commitments of the States are those to make sufficient land available; ensure adequate security; and provide essential services at concessional rates for the airports or air strips. The Centre would like the States to provide minimum land, free of cost, for development of the RCS airports. More importantly, the States will have to bear 20% towards VGF. The share will be 10% for North Eastern States and Union Territories.
7. Five airlines — Alliance Air, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha, Air Odisha and Air Deccan — were awarded 128 routes under the scheme after a bidding process.
8. The government aims at making flying affordable by capping fares at Rs. 2500 per seat per hour. “Airfare for a 1-hour journey of approximately 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.
9. The scheme is a component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) which was released on June 15, 2016.
10. Hyderabad-Cuddapah, Hyderabad-Nanded, Nanded-Mumbai, Chennai-Mysuru, Chennai-Salem, Mumbai-Porbandar, Kolkata-Aizwal, Pune-Nashik, Delhi-Dehradun, and Ranchi-Raipur are some of the other proposed routes
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