(a) whether the Government has proposed to operate flights among small cities;
(b) if so, the details of the air services to be provided among small cities of the country including Bundelkhand and Uttarakhand; and
(c) whether the Government proposes to construct air service circuits among religious cities and if so, the details thereof?
The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)
(a) and (b): Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched Regional Connectivity Scheme - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on 21-10-2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity from unserved and underserved airports in the country by making air travel affordable to the masses. Airports Authority of India(AAI), the Implementing Agency has completed four rounds of bidding under UDAN and identified 766 valid UDAN routes till first phase of UDAN 4.0 involving 110 UDAN airports including 12 water aerodromes & 33 Helipads for operation of UDAN flights and 311 UDAN routes have already commenced connecting 47 airports, 2 water aerodromes & 5 heliports. Three Airports namely Chitrakoot, Jhansi and Gwalior in Buldelkhand region have been identified by the Airports Authority of India, the Implementing Agency for operation of RCS Flights under UDAN. In the state of Uttarakhand, 46 routes have been awarded connecting 2 UDAN Airports and 13 Heliports.;
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(c) After repeal of the Air Corporation Act in March 1994, the Indian domestic aviation market has been deregulated. Consequently as a result, airlines are free to induct capacity with any aircraft type for selecting whatever markets and network they wish to service and operate across the country subject to compliance with the Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDGs). Thus, it is up to the airlines to provide air services to specific places depending upon the traffic demand and their commercial viability, in compliance with the RDG. However, the Ministry regularly interacts with the stakeholders from time to time with an aim to improve air connectivity. ;
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UDAN is a 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. Airports Authority of India, the Implementing Agency, has awarded 12 Buddhist Circuit routes connecting Shrawasti, Kushinagar and Gaya. If any valid bid is received in future round of bidding under UDAN, the same will be considered as per the provisions of the scheme document. ;