UDAN airports fail to take off

On Wednesday, in Parliament, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, spoke about the government focussing on last mile air connectivity to Tier-III cities. However, six years after the government launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN), the success rate of the 70 airports and 451 routes launched under it, fails to instil confidence in the government’s implementation process.

In a far cry from the country’s top five airports fighting serious congestion of air-travellers, business at these smaller airports is lacklustre and routes are largely unserved. Analysts blame the choice of destinations and the reluctant investments made so far for this.