RCS Selection On, First RCS Flights In March?

The Union Minister of Civil Aviation P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, while expressing satisfaction with the response received under the Regional Connectivity Scheme, conveyed that this is a significant step ahead in realizing the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘connecting the unconnected and serving the unserved’.

- R. Chandrakanth

THE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF India (AAI), the implementing agency for the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) UDAN (which stands for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik - the common man will fly) has received 45 initial proposals from 11 bidders covering more than 200 RCS routes as the deadline for submitting initial proposals came to an end on January 16, 2017.

These initial proposals cover as many as 65 airports, of which there are 52 unserved and 13 underserved airports as per the provisions of the scheme. Counter-bids have now been invited against these initial proposals, the last date of submission for which is February 1, 2017. The routes or networks will be awarded to the bidders who quote the lowest requirement of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) against such routes. To ensure that operations on ground start with minimum time-gap after the bidding is completed, parallel action has also been initiated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation with AAI, state governments, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).