The hype around Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme and low entry-barrier prompted a rich farmer from Maharashtra to approach the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to launch air services on select routes. But his initial enthusiasm soon fizzled out.
The much-publicised Udan or regional connectivity scheme(RCS), now in its third year, also seems to have lost steam with the latestdata showing that a fourth of the routes out of 688 awarded so far gettingregular flights.
While 18 routes awarded to Deccan Charters and Air Odishahave been cancelled due to prolonged grounding of flights, as many as 10 routesawarded to crisis-hit Jet Airways are under review and may soon be cancelled.
“We had relaxed the regulations to allow more entitiesto participate in the scheme. A farmer from Maharashtra came to discuss thelaunch of services but did not follow up. There are many issues such asavailability of funds, cost of operations and weak demand preventing the spreadof RCS,” said a senior official handling the flagship scheme.
A total of 688 routes have been awarded to variousair-operators in three rounds of bidding. The government has promised to make air travelaffordable for the common man and provides subsidy by way of lower tax rates,waiver of airport charges and other concessions to airlines for cheaper airtickets. The ticket price has been capped at Rs 2,500 on RCS routes connectingsmaller towns.