Connecting small towns, unserved and underserved airports on India's air map: That’s how UDAN was imagined when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first flight of the regional air service on April 27, 2017, between Delhi and Shimla.
As many as 688 routes connecting cities and towns have been announced for UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) so far. It’s the world’s most ambitious aviation programme, but a look at the performance of airlines, airports and state governments shows that it has failed to soar high. Only 232 routes — a third of those planned — are working to date, according to official figures.
Many routes declared operational do not have flights after Jet Airways and two smaller airlines collapsed. Even successful airlines like SpiceJet have abandoned some routes due to lack of passengers. All airlines operating on UDAN routes have hit turbulence financially, though not entirely due to the scheme. Places that were to be connected in the first round of operations still have no airports or airstrips.
UDAN’s troubles started with its inauguration in 2017. Five airlines — SpiceJet, Alliance Air, Trujet, Deccan Charters, and Air Odisha — were awarded 128 routes among them. Only 54 routes operate yet. Deccan Charters and Air Odisha bagged two-thirds in the first round of bidding, but they performed so poorly that those routes had to be cut.
Deccan Charters had its contract cancelled; that hurt the government’s plan to connect capitals of India’s northeastern states with one another. Eventually, Alliance Air was given the task in December 2019.
Deccan Charters was to connect Kolkata to smaller towns like Cooch Behar, Burnpur, Jamshedpur and Rourkela. None of these routes have been operationalised. It was also to connect Maharashtra’s Sholapur, Kolhapur and Jalgaon cities to Mumbai. Sholapur has still not been connected, and Kolhapur and Jalgaon got flights to Mumbai in September 2019 after the routes were re-awarded under the third round of UDAN to Trujet.
Air Odisha bagged the highest number of routes (50), but it never got flights running to key places. Routes like Gwalior-Lucknow, Delhi-Kanpur and Varanasi-Delhi were delayed as a result. On routes where it managed to fly, there were frequent cancellations. The airline was eventually debarred for not operating at least 70 per cent of scheduled flights on UDAN routes. It was tasked with connecting Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar with the state’s major cities and towns like Jharsuguda, Jeypore, Rourkela and Utkela. Except Jharsuguda, none of these smaller airports have been connected.
05/02/20 Sai Manish/Business Standard
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As many as 688 routes connecting cities and towns have been announced for UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) so far. It’s the world’s most ambitious aviation programme, but a look at the performance of airlines, airports and state governments shows that it has failed to soar high. Only 232 routes — a third of those planned — are working to date, according to official figures.
Many routes declared operational do not have flights after Jet Airways and two smaller airlines collapsed. Even successful airlines like SpiceJet have abandoned some routes due to lack of passengers. All airlines operating on UDAN routes have hit turbulence financially, though not entirely due to the scheme. Places that were to be connected in the first round of operations still have no airports or airstrips.
UDAN’s troubles started with its inauguration in 2017. Five airlines — SpiceJet, Alliance Air, Trujet, Deccan Charters, and Air Odisha — were awarded 128 routes among them. Only 54 routes operate yet. Deccan Charters and Air Odisha bagged two-thirds in the first round of bidding, but they performed so poorly that those routes had to be cut.
Deccan Charters had its contract cancelled; that hurt the government’s plan to connect capitals of India’s northeastern states with one another. Eventually, Alliance Air was given the task in December 2019.
Deccan Charters was to connect Kolkata to smaller towns like Cooch Behar, Burnpur, Jamshedpur and Rourkela. None of these routes have been operationalised. It was also to connect Maharashtra’s Sholapur, Kolhapur and Jalgaon cities to Mumbai. Sholapur has still not been connected, and Kolhapur and Jalgaon got flights to Mumbai in September 2019 after the routes were re-awarded under the third round of UDAN to Trujet.
Air Odisha bagged the highest number of routes (50), but it never got flights running to key places. Routes like Gwalior-Lucknow, Delhi-Kanpur and Varanasi-Delhi were delayed as a result. On routes where it managed to fly, there were frequent cancellations. The airline was eventually debarred for not operating at least 70 per cent of scheduled flights on UDAN routes. It was tasked with connecting Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar with the state’s major cities and towns like Jharsuguda, Jeypore, Rourkela and Utkela. Except Jharsuguda, none of these smaller airports have been connected.
05/02/20 Sai Manish/Business Standard
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