PM Modi
PM Narendra ModiPIB

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the country's first 'Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik' (UDAN) scheme aimed at giving a boost to regional connectivity with low-cost flights.

PM Modi flagged off the first UDAN flight under RCS on Shimla-Delhi sector and the inaugural flights on Kadapa-Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad sectors.

"UDAN Scheme is a first-of-its-kind scheme globally to stimulate regional connectivity through a market-based mechanism. The UDAN Scheme is a key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) which was released on 15th June, 2016," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a series of tweets.

"To make air travel accessible to citizens in regionally important areas, the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik RCS (regional connectivity scheme) was launched in October, 2016... Airfare for a 1-hour journey of appx. 500 km on a fixed wing aircraft or for 30 minute journey on a helicopter would be capped at Rs. 2,500. This with proportionate pricing for routes of different stage lengths and flight duration," the PMO added.

Five airlines will operate on 128 routes connecting 70 airports, which include 27 currently served airports, 12 currently underserved airports and 31 currently unserved airports. The five operators are Air India's subsidiary airlines — Airline Allied Services, SpiceJet, Air Deccan, Air Odisha and Turbo Megha — which would be operating the 19-78 seater aircraft.

Airports across 20 states and union territories would be connected through these flights. The places include Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The airports that would be connected under UDAN include Bhatinda, Shimla, Bilaspur, Neyveli, Cooch Behar, Nanded and Kadapa.

Fifty percent of the seats on each flight would have a limit of Rs 2,500 per seat/hour. Airline Allied Services would operate on 15 routes, SpiceJet on 11 routes, Turbo Megha Airways on 18 routes, Air Deccan on 34 routes and Air Odisha Aviation on 50 routes.

Viability gap funding would be extended to operators under the UDAN scheme, the money for which would be partly raised through a charge of Rs 8,500 on flights operating in major routes like Delhi and Mumbai. The viability gap funding amount is approximately Rs 205 crore per annum for the operators that were chosen in the first round of bidding. It would be in place for three years for the concerned operators from the date of starting operations in a specific Udan route.

Several benefits have also been included in the scheme like no airport charges and three-year exclusivity on the routes.

Amber Dubey, partner and head of Aerospace and Defence at KPMG in India, was quoted by Firstpost as saying that timely payment of viability gap funding to the operators is important to sustain operations. "AAI must install fool-proof monitoring mechanism to ensure no undue delays happen," he said.

PM Modi will also address a rally at the Ridge Maidan in Shimla. This is his first visit to the hill station since becoming PM. He had first visited Himachal Pradesh as Gujarat chief minister in 2003. Modi was in-charge of organisational affairs of Himachal Pradesh for eight years till 2002.