Government approves 78 additional flight routes under UDAN 4, to enhance the connectivity of Northeast India with the rest of the country. By Tanvi Jain
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If you are planning a trip to the mesmerising Northeast India post the lockdown then you’ll be glad to know about these 78 additional flight routes that have been recently announced by the Aviation Ministry, under the fourth round of Government’s air connectivity scheme — UDAN.
“RCS UDAN flies higher! #UDAN 4.0 is ready to go. 78 additional routes have now been approved, taking the total number of sanctioned routes to 766. 18 unserved/underserved airports would be connected to metro cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi, etc,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.
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“This will further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country. The North-Eastern Region, Hilly States and Islands have been given priority in the approval process for the new routes. Special boost is being given to connectivity in Northeast with routes from Guwahati to Tezu, Rupsi, Tezpur, Passighat, Misa and Shillong,” a PIB release mentioned.
Apart from this, other routes that have been approved under UDAN 4 include, “Hissar to Chandigarh, Dehradun and Dharmshala, Varanasi to Chitrakoot and Shravasti, Agatti, Kavaratti and Minicoy islands of Lakshadweep.”
“So far, 766 routes have been sanctioned under the UDAN scheme. 29 served, eight unserved (including two heliports and one water aerodrome), and two underserved airports have been included in the list for approved routes,” the release added.
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The UDAN scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016, to improve regional air connectivity and allow passengers to fly at reasonable rates. Flights under this scheme offer half of their seats at subsidised prices. The participating flights are also Viability Gap Funding (VGF) — an amount shared by both the Centre as well as the state.
“The fourth round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands. The airports that had already been developed by AAI are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme. Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated,” the release further said, also adding that the Ministry has so far operationalised 274 UDAN routes that have connected 45 airports and three heliports.
Related: This Road Trip In Northeast India Is The Journey Of A Lifetime. Know Why!
