New 78 UDAN routes to boost connectivity in NE, hilly states and islands
28 Aug 2020
In a major boost to air connectivity in the hilly states of the North East and Islands, the civil aviation ministry on Thursday approved 78 new routes under the fourth round of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), more popularly known as UDAN (UdeDesh Ka AamNagrik).
This will further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country. The North Eastern Region, Hilly States and Islands have been given priority in the approval process for the new routes, a civil aviation ministry release stated.
The new routes approved under UDAN in the North East include routes connecting Guwahati to Tezu, Rupsi, Tezpur, Passighat, Misa and Shillong.
People will also be able to fly from Hissar to Chandigarh, Dehradun and Dharmshala under these UDAN 4 routes.
Routes from Varanasi to Chitrakoot and Shravasti have also been approved.
Besides, Agatti, Kavaratti and Minicoy islands of Lakshadweep have been connected by the new routes of UDAN 4.0.
So far, 766 routes have been sanctioned under the UDAN scheme. 29 served, 8 unserved (including 2 heliports and 1 water aerodrome), and 2 underserved airports have been included in the list for approved routes.
The fourth round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North Eastern Region, Hilly States, and Islands. The airports that had already been developed by AAI are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the scheme. Under UDAN 4.0, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated. Since its inception, MoCA has operationalised 274 UDAN routes that have connected 45 airports and 3 heliports.
The new approved RCS routes are: Guwahati-Tezu, Tezu-Imphal, Imphal-Tezu, Tezu-Guwahati, Guwahati-Rupsi, Rupsi-Kolkata, Kolkata-Rupsi, Rupsi-Guwahati, Bilaspur-Bhopal, Bhopal-Bilaspur, Hissar-Dharamshala, Dharamshala-Hissar, Hissar-Chandigarh, Chandigarh-Hissar, Hissar-Dehradun, Dehradun-Hissar, Kanpur (Chakeri)-Moradabad, Moradabad-Kanpur(Chakeri), Kanpur (Chakeri)-Aligarh, Aligarh-Kanpur (Chakeri), Kanpur (Chakeri)-Chitrakoot, Chitrakoot-Prayagraj (Allahabad), Prayagraj-Chitrakoot, Chitrakoot-Varanasi, Varanasi-Chitrakoot, Chitrakoot-Kanpur (Chakeri), Kanpur (Chakeri)-Shravasti, Shravasti-Varanasi, Varanasi-Shravasti, Shravasti-Prayagraj, Prayagraj-Shravasti, Shravasti-Kanpur (Chakeri), Bareilly-Delhi, Delhi-Bareilly, Cochin International Airport-Agatti, Agatti-Cochin International Airport, Aizawl-Tezpur, Tezpur-Aizawl, Agartala-Dibrugarh, Dibrugarh-Agartala, Shillong-Passighat, Passighat-Guwahati, Guwahati-Passighat, Passighat-Shillong, Guwahati-Tezpur, Tezpur-Guwahati, Guwahati-Misa (Heliport), Misa (Heliport)-Geleki, Geleki-Jorhat, Jorhat-Geleki, Geleki-Misa (Heliport), Misa (Heliport)-Guwahati, Agatti-Minicoy, Minicoy-Agatti, Agatti-Kavaratti, Kavaratti-Agatti, Guwahati-Shillong, Shillong- Dimapur, Dimapur-Shillong, Imphal-Silchar, Silchar-Imphal, Shillong-Guwahati,Agartala-Shillong, Shillong-Imphal, Imphal-Shillong, Shillong-Agartala, Imphal-Shillong, Shillong-Silchar, Silchar-Shillong, Shillong-Imphal, Shillong-Dibrugarh, Dibrugarh-Shillong, Delhi-Shimla, Shimla-Delhi, Diu-Surat, Surat-Diu, Diu-Vadodara, Vadodara-Diu.