'Good news': Jyotiraditya Scindia announces more flights under UDAN scheme

The Centre plans to operationalising 100 unserved and underserved airports and starting at least 1,000 air routes under regional connectivity scheme called UDAN scheme.

Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday announced new flights under the UDAN scheme to connect small cities with the metros. The flights utilises less used airports in the country and seeks to offer affordable flights to the people of the country.

Jyotiraditya Scindia takes charge as the new Minister of Aviation, in New Delhi, on Friday.(Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

"Good news for Madhya Pradesh! Starting 8 new flights from July 16 onwards via @flyspicejet: Gwalior-Mumbai-Gwalior, Gwalior-Pune-Gwalior, Jabalpur-Surat-Jabalpur, Ahmedabad-Gwalior-Ahmedaba. @MoCA_GoI & the aviation industry are committed to take #UDAN to greater heights!" Scindia said in the tweet.

The Centre plans to operationalising 100 unserved and underserved airports and starting at least 1,000 air routes under regional connectivity scheme called UDAN scheme (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik).

The scheme is aimed at enhancing connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country and making air travel affordable. It is a key component of Centre’s National Civil Aviation Policy led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and launched in June 2016.

Under the scheme, nearly half of the seats in Udan flights are offered at subsidised fares, and the participating carriers are provided a certain amount of viability gap funding (VGF) - an amount shared between the Centre and the concerned states.

This is one of the initial decisions taken by Scindia, who took charge of the civil aviation ministry last week.

Scindia, a prominent leader from Madhya Pradesh, was sworn in as a cabinet minister after a reshuffle carried out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Wednesday. He joined BJP in March 2020 and is a Rajya Sabha member.

Born on January 1, 1971, Scindia is educated in Harvard and Stanford institutions.