Kothagudem airport not in UDAN list: Centre
Hyderabad: The Ministry of Civil Aviation said Kothagudem airport does not figure in the tentative list of the underserved and unserved airports of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme document. In reply to a question by TRS MP Nama Nageswara Rao and other Members in Lok Sabha, Union […]
Hyderabad: The Ministry of Civil Aviation said Kothagudem airport does not figure in the tentative list of the underserved and unserved airports of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme document.
In reply to a question by TRS MP Nama Nageswara Rao and other Members in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh said UDAN was a market driven ongoing scheme. AAI, the implementing Agency, has been conducting bidding under UDAN periodically with an aim to award routes to the Selected Airline Operators (SAOs) for connecting more unserved and underserved airports across the country.
An airport, which is included in the awarded routes of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), requires upgradation or development for commencement of RCS operations is developed under “Revival of unserved and underserved airports” scheme. The Government of India has approved a budget of Rs 4,500 crore for revival of existing unserved, underserved airports or airstrips of the State Governments, AAI, Public Sector Undertakings and Civil Enclaves. So far, Rs 2,062.50 crore funds were released under this scheme, he said.
AAI has awarded 948 routes under UDAN and of these 403 routes have commenced, connecting 65 UDAN airports including two water aerodromes and eight heliports as on December 14, 2021. So far, the SAOs have operationalised two) UDAN routes in West Bengal and Forty UDAN routes in Telangana.
There was a delay in operationalising some routes or discontinuation of the routes for different reasons, including non-readiness of civil airports or heliports, which may be related to availability of land, creation of regional infrastructure, obtaining license from the Regulator etc., Unsustainability of the operation on the awarded routes and adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic, he explained.
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