Faltering connectivity

Need to address operational challenges to make UDAN work better

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India is one of the fastest-growing domestic air travel markets globally, but the government's ambitious plans for regional connectivity to smaller cities by providing affordable air travel through its Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik scheme (UDAN) is still a work in progress. Since this demand-driven scheme kicked off in 2017—with the first inaugural flight between Delhi and Shimla—15 million passengers have availed of UDAN. But this regional connectivity scheme's passenger count has plunged by 57% to 1.4 million passengers in FY25 from the peak level of 3.3 million in FY22. The numbers make for dismal reading. Currently, 637 out of the 915 valid routes have been operationalised, connecting 92 unserved and underserved airports, including 15 heliports and two water aerodromes across the country. Nearly 80% of the 92 airports still remain unserved. As if all of this weren't bad enough, 222 routes under the scheme have been discontinued since 2020 as airlines like Air India and Akasa Air do not fly on them. This does n