(a) whether Coochbehar airport in West Bengal is being considered under the latest UDAN Scheme;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
(a) whether Coochbehar airport in West Bengal is being considered under the latest UDAN Scheme;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)
(a) to (c): Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) is market driven scheme. The interested airlines based on their assessment of demand on particular routes submit their proposals at the time of bidding under RCS - UDAN from time to time. Cooch Behar figures in the tentative list of unserved airports of RCS document. In the 1st round of bidding under UDAN, RCS route: Kolkata-Cooch Behar –Kolkata and in the 2nd round of bidding, RCS route: Guwahati-Cooch Behar – Guwahati were awarded to the Selected Airline Operators (SAOs). These routes were subsequently terminated / cancelled due to non-compliance of SAO Agreement by SAOs.No valid bid was thereafter received in subsequent rounds of bidding including the recently concluded 4th round of bidding under RCS-UDAN.However, if any valid bid is received in future round of RCS-UDAN, same shall be considered as per the scheme document.