Covid-19 pandemic to hit Centre’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme Udan

Udan, or Udey Desh Ka Aam Naagarik (Udan, let the common man fly), was launched by the civil aviation ministry in October 2016 with the objectives of connecting

Udan, or Udey Desh Ka Aam Naagarik (Udan, let the common man fly), was launched by the civil aviation ministry in October 2016 with the objectives of connecting Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and the hinterland with the metros, making air travel affordable, improving regional connectivity and developing regional airports.

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Four years on, the ambitious initiative has made little headway in achieving its objectives because of tardy implementation and the lackadaisical attitude of state governments and hit now by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic that has curtailed flights to 45-to-60% of their pre-outbreak levels.

Even so, the aviation ministry went ahead and announced 78 new Udan routes in late August. Data from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) accessed by HT show that only one-third — 285 of 766 — routes opened to Udan operators earlier are operational. AAI is overseeing the implementation of the scheme. For instance, in Maharashtra, only 28 of the 48 routes had been made operational until February.

With airlines currently struggling to fly at their full capacity even on profit-making routes in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, Udan is likely to take a worse hit, officials said.

“It will take a minimum of two years for passenger traffic under the scheme to go back to the pre-Covid level. There are routes such as Belgaum-Chennai that were witnessing good passenger traffic and are now facing issues, which implies that confidence-building measures are required,” said a senior AAI official, requesting anonymity.

-Airlines like SpiceJet, Alliance Air, Air Odisha, Air Deccan, Pawan Hans, Trujet, Zoom Air and IndiGo are the airline’s that participated in UDAN. Few UDAn routes include: Delhi- Shimla- Delhi, Mumbai- Kandla-Mumbai, Jaipur- Jaisalmer- Jaipur, Delhi- Pathankot- Delhi, Pantanagar- Dehradun- Pantnagar, Hubli- Chennai- Hubli, Hyderabad- Nasik- Hyderabad, Cochin- Kannur- Cochin, Pithoragarh- Hindan- Pithoragarh, Allahabad- Pune- Allahabad, Amritsar- Jaipur- Amritsar, Gwalior- Bengaluru- Gwalior, Guwahati- Dimapur- Guwahati, Rajahmundry- Vishakhapatnam- Rajahmundry

After Udan was announced in October 2016, the first flight under the initiative took off in April 2017. Fares for flights were capped at ₹2,500 per hour. Airlines were asked to offer half their seats at discounted rates. In return, the government offered a subsidy or viability gap funding -- the difference between the cost of operations and the return earned -- to airlines.

To be sure, Udan has had problems right from its inception, Covid-19 is only the latest blow. The official cited above said: “Even before the pandemic hit India, few airlines participated in Udan. Before Covid-19, airlines did not have adequate aircraft in their fleet for regional routes. With the pandemic, both the aircraft manufacturing industry and their deliveries have been impacted, leading to a shortage of planes which will not be resolved anytime soon.”

Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, operated flights to only 64 of its total 200 (around 35%) Udan routes before the pandemic. Chief operating officer CS Subbiah said it would take a long time to get back to pre-Covid operations.

“For Alliance Air, 70% of our pre-Covid Udan flights have commenced after domestic operations resumed. The rest is yet to start, mostly due to restricted air movements and different mandatory quarantine rules in various states which is an issue. Though the number of passengers wanting to travel these days has reduced, the situation is better than what it was in June,” said Subbiah.

In Phase 1 of Udan, 128 routes were allotted to the airlines. Another 325 routes were opened up in January 2018. In the third phase, 235 routes were announced in January 2019, and 78 new routes were announced on August 27 this year under the fourth phase. These routes are spread over mainly the northeast, hilly areas and islands, thereby also adding helicopters and seaplanes.

According to the ministry of civil aviation, 285 routes connecting 45 airports and three heliports had been operationalised until September 29, 2020. These include 10 seaplane routes too.

Experts say Udan also suffered because of the shutting down of a few airlines in addition to infrastructural issues such as land acquisitions and delays in construction of runways and terminal buildings at regional airport sites. Air Odisha and Jet Airways, for instance, have been grounded. Similarly, airlines such as Air Deccan and Zoom Air failed to operationalise most of the routes they won. SpiceJet is yet to commence operations on two seaplane routes it won.

Acceptance by and involvement of all state governments is required for successful implementation of Udan, said Kinjal Shah, vice-president at ICRA, a rating company.

“As long as state governments are in compliance and in acceptance of the scheme, success rates are higher. But like in past, in cases where it is otherwise, the success rates of the schemes are limited because not all do want to participate in those subsidies etc.,” said Shah.

She added, “The pandemic is also adding to the situation. Currently, profit-making routes, too, are struggling. It will take more than a year for the situation to stabilise, but it would depend on the state governments’ involvement. ”

There has also been a delay in commencing flights from many airports such as Solapur, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg. Although work on the infrastructure at Solapur airport has been completed, operations have not begun after the AAI detected a chimney obstructing the flight path. AAI had, in 2018, written to the Maharashtra government to sort out the issue, which hasn’t been fixed yet.

Requesting anonymity, a senior official of an airline that had to pause its flights under Udan said: “Government policies are not aligned to support the complex nature of the scheme. Besides, infrastructure is absent in many airports in addition to unrealistic regulations.”

Subbiah of Alliance Air said the non-availability of landing slots and congestion at major Indian airports also hindered Udan operations.

“The scheme will see much slower growth in the coming two years due to Covid-19. This is because normal domestic operations (too) are facing poor numbers of passengers and running in losses due to the pandemic. Similarly, no funds are being generated under the scheme currently. The government has no money to utilise for Udan,” said an aviation consultant, requesting anonymity.