Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju announced the name of 73 new airports and helipads to be set-up under the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN. He announced the results of second bidding round of UDAN at a press conference in New Delhi. The ambitious scheme Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik-UDAN seeks to boost regional air connectivity and provides various incentives to airlines. He said, out of 73, forty-three will be constructed in North-East and the hill states and will add 29 lakh seats annually.
The fare for a one hour journey of approximately 500 kilometres on a fixed-wing aircraft or for a 30-minute journey on a helicopter will be capped at two thousand 500 rupees under the scheme.
He said, under the scheme, Uttarakhand will get 15 airports and helipads, 9 in Uttar Pradesh, eight in Arunachal Pradesh and 6 in Himachal Pradesh and five each in Assam and Manipur.
The Minister said, for the first time, Kargil will also have air connectivity. Mr Raju said the government is transforming the aviation ecosystem, making it affordable and accessible to the common man.