Is Udan Ready For International Skies?

The UDAN or regional connectivity scheme remains virtually on paper. Regular operation of regional flights continue to lag behind due to a variety of reasons. And even as these issues continue to trouble the scheme, the government has unveiled a draft scheme to extend the ‘affordable’ UDAN air travel programme to international destinations.

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The Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme, a Central government scheme aimed at making air travel affordable, remains as ambitious as it was when it was conceived. Perhaps, what is most important is that it remains a work in progress.

Even as questions about the success of the regional connectivity scheme on the domestic front remain, the government has unveiled a draft scheme to extend the affordable UDAN air travel programme to international circuits, with state governments identifying the routes for operation. The first steps have been taken by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Assam (see box).

First, however, the domestic scene. Well-intentioned the UDAN idea might have been, but challenges, pitfalls and complexities continue to plague domestic fliers.

Check this out: Airlines operating flights under UDAN saw the maximum number of cancellations in July. In fact, the cancellations made July the month with maximum flight cancellations in 2018 so far. As per data available with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), while Zoom Air reported 100 per cent cancellations since it did not operate any flights, Air Odisha and Air Deccan cancelled 94.23 per cent and 87.50 per cent of flights, respectively. The DGCA report stated overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month to be 1.49 per cent.