AAI starts taking bids under Udan 4.0, focus on northeastern states, J&K

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Tuesday initiated the process of taking bids from airlines for various routes under the fourth round of bidding of its regional connectivity scheme UDAN.

The focus of this round would be mainly on connecting north-eastern states, hilly states, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and islands, a release said.

“Airports that have already been developed by AAI would be given higher priority for award of VGF (viability gap funding) under the scheme, followed by airports…located in priority areas…followed by airports located in areas other than priority area(s),” it said.

Under the UDAN scheme, financial incentives in terms of concessions from the Centre, state governments and airport operators are extended to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and undeserved airports, and keep airfares affordable.