Wings to Small Cities' Connectivity
- connect2783
- Mar 20, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 5
New airports in cities like Shivamogga are boosting regional connectivity under the UDAN scheme, aiming to link smaller cities with better aviation infrastructure. From Pakyong in Sikkim to Jharsuguda in Odisha, regional airports are transforming accessibility. Yet, as smaller airports see rising user charges, questions are emerging about the balance between affordable travel and infrastructure development. Will cost hikes slow the momentum?
Recently, a newly built airport in Shivamogga, Karnataka, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister. The airport project is an attempt to improve connectivity and accessibility of Shivamogga and other neighbouring areas in the Malnad region. Similarly, airports in various other cities were operationalised, like the Pakyong airport in Sikkim and the Jharsuguda Airport in Odisha.
This was done under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, which is a regional connectivity scheme launched by the central government in 2016 to enhance the aviation infrastructure and air connectivity in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. According to the press release in August last year, the scheme aims to complete 220 airports, heliports, and water aerodromes by 2026.
As per the Greenfield Airport Policy 2018, an airport developer, including the state governments, willing to establish an airport is required to send a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and it will have to undergo 2 stages – the ‘Site-Clearance’ stage and the ‘In-Principle’ approval stage.
Apart from Greenfield Airports like the one built in Shivamogga, the scheme also covers operationalising underserved and unserved airports along with increasing the number of routes. 68 underserved and unserved destinations, which include 58 airports, 8 heliports and 2 water aerodromes, have been connected under the UDAN scheme.
For the unserved and underserved airports, the airline operator needs to approach AAI (Airport Authority of India) and submit an expression of interest. Based on this, the AAI will coordinate with the concerned agencies for extending the relevant concessions, such as tax concessions, specified under the scheme.
Recently it has also been proposed that for the smaller airports which cater to less than 3.5 million passengers annually, the central government will hike charges by 30%. The user development fee is also set to increase by four times, making it expensive to fly out from such airports.
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