India has rolled out a plan designed to encourage rapid growth in transportation services to, from, within, and between its regions. The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), titled “Udan” (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik, or “let the common man fly”), has been designed to act as a catalyst for growth as the Indian economy matures. The RCS was launched last year, after two phases of bidding for laid out routes, and now seems well on its way to maturity.
Demand is clearly there. Already growth in populated metropolitan areas has been spilling over to the hinterlands, opening numerous opportunities for regional aircraft, helicopters, and seaplanes to interconnect remote, underserved, or unserved airports, towns. and cities.
Domestic ticketing is forecast to hit 300 million by 2022 and, given the current lack of infrastructure at airports, the government has started an ambitious scheme to upgrade airfields and airstrips along with offering incentives to encourage operators to start services to unused airports.
Airports Authority of India (AAI), implementation agency for the RCS in aviation, plans to invest $2.6 billion upgrading airport infrastructure by 2020. Otherwise, regional airports' limited daylight opening hours, lack of runway lights, or radars could inhibit growth, the government believes.
However, the key metro airports of Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad are almost at full capacity, while landing slots at Delhi and Mumbai airports have limited availability. “MoCA is not in a position to ensure slots for RCS flight in Mumbai,” confirmed Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, prompting one analyst to comment that this is “a big setback for Indian regional aviation.”
31/01/18 Neelam Mathews/AINonline
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Demand is clearly there. Already growth in populated metropolitan areas has been spilling over to the hinterlands, opening numerous opportunities for regional aircraft, helicopters, and seaplanes to interconnect remote, underserved, or unserved airports, towns. and cities.
Domestic ticketing is forecast to hit 300 million by 2022 and, given the current lack of infrastructure at airports, the government has started an ambitious scheme to upgrade airfields and airstrips along with offering incentives to encourage operators to start services to unused airports.
Airports Authority of India (AAI), implementation agency for the RCS in aviation, plans to invest $2.6 billion upgrading airport infrastructure by 2020. Otherwise, regional airports' limited daylight opening hours, lack of runway lights, or radars could inhibit growth, the government believes.
However, the key metro airports of Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad are almost at full capacity, while landing slots at Delhi and Mumbai airports have limited availability. “MoCA is not in a position to ensure slots for RCS flight in Mumbai,” confirmed Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, prompting one analyst to comment that this is “a big setback for Indian regional aviation.”
31/01/18 Neelam Mathews/AINonline
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