Government Reports 15 Airports Temporarily Non-Operational Under UDAN Scheme Due to Low Passenger Loads

The government has reported that 15 airports under the UDAN regional air connectivity scheme are currently not operational. This is due to various factors, including low passenger numbers on flights. The Regional Connectivity Scheme - Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) had previously activated 651 routes linking 93 unserved and underserved airports, which also included 15 heliports and two water aerodromes.

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Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, stated in a written response to the Rajya Sabha that the airports temporarily non-operational include Pathankot, Pakyong, Kushinagar, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Shravasti, Moradabad, Bhavnagar, Ambikapur, Rourkela, Ludhiana, Datia, Kalaburagi, and Shimla. These closures are attributed to several reasons such as the end of the three-year Viability Gap Funding (VGF) period and low passenger load factors.

Operational Challenges Under UDAN

Other contributing factors to these temporary closures include poor visibility at Visual Flight Rules (VFR) airports and daytime runway closures. Additionally, issues like aircraft shortages and leasing problems have also played a role. Some airlines have temporarily halted operations or transferred contractual obligations to other operators.

In another statement, the minister highlighted that over the past five years, 11 airports were inaugurated across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar. However, only four of these currently have scheduled flight operations. The operational airports are located in Deoghar (Jharkhand), Kanpur and Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), and Purnea (Bihar).

Recent Airport Developments

The airports inaugurated include Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh in 2021 and Deoghar in Jharkhand in 2022. In 2023, Kanpur and Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh were opened. Further inaugurations are planned for Aligarh, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Moradabad, Shravasti, and Sarsawa in Uttar Pradesh by 2024 and Purnea in Bihar by 2025.

Despite these developments, many of these newly inaugurated airports do not yet have scheduled flight operations. The minister confirmed that only Deoghar in Jharkhand and Kanpur and Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh currently offer scheduled flights.

The UDAN scheme aims to enhance regional connectivity by making air travel affordable for the common citizen. However, operational challenges continue to affect some airports under this initiative.

With inputs from PTI