(a) whether it is a fact that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has started production of Dronier aircraft for the prupose of Civil Aviation and if so, the details thereof including the annual target set for production of Dronier by HAL; and
(b) whether any effort is being made by the Government to operate Dronier aircraft under UDAN Scheme and if so, the details thereof?
The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)
(a) and (b): Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has manufactured two civil version of Dornier - 228 aircraft with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) certification for civil aviation market. HAL has capacity of manufacturing 6 to 7 aircrafts per annum based on customer orders. Government of India has launched Regional Connectivity Scheme - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) with an aim to connect unserved and underserved airports in remote/difficult/hilly terrain across the country at affordable airfare. The UDAN scheme is a market driven scheme. The interested airlines based on their assessment of demand on particular routes submit their proposals indicating the type of aircraft to be used for operation of UDAN flight, at the time of bidding under UDAN from time to time. Dornier-228 aircraft being a small aircraft is suitable for small runway/airstrip. HAL had engaged with Scheduled operators, Non-scheduled operators and State Govts for utilization of Do-228 aircraft for regional air connectivity through UDAN. Moreover, UDAN is a market driven scheme, decision on using Dornier-228 for UDAN flight operations is to be taken by the Selected Airline Operators(SAOs).