Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched the 5th round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) .

The launch will further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of India and achieve last mile connectivity.

Some Key Features of UDAN 5.0:

• UDAN 5.0 focuses on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats).
• Under this round the earlier stage length cap of 600 km is waived off. Now there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight.
• Viability gap funding (VGF) to be provided will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority areas which was earlier capped at 500 km.
• No predetermined routes would be offered. Only Network and Individual Route Proposal proposed by airlines will be considered.

Under UDAN 5.0, airlines would be required to submit an action/business plan after two months from the issuance of LoA (Letter of Acceptance), wherein they submit details about their aircraft acquisition plan/availability of aircraft, crew and slots at the time of the technical proposal.

The same route will not be awarded to a single airline more than once, whether in different networks or in the same network.

Exclusivity will be withdrawn if the average quarterly PLF is higher than 75% for four continuous quarters, to prevent exploitation of the monopoly on a route.

25% of the Performance Guarantee to be encashed for each month of delay up to 4 months, to further incentivize quick operationalization.

Airlines would be required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route. Earlier this deadline was 6 months.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched Regional Connectivity Scheme - UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik) on 21.10.2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses. 

UDAN is a market driven scheme. Interested airlines based on their assessment of demand on particular routes, submit their proposals at the time of bidding under UDAN.

As on 31.01.2023, a total number of 73 unserved /underserved airports including 9 Heliports & 2 water aerodromes have been operationalised, since 2017, under the UDAN scheme. 

About UDAN Scheme 

• UDAN is an initiative by the government to connect the country’s under-served and unserved airports. 
• UDAN is a regional connectivity scheme spearheaded by the Government of India (GoI). 
• UDAN acronym for ‘UdeDeshkaAamNagarik’ 
• It aims to develop smaller regional airports to allow common citizens easier access to aviation services.
• It is one of the new policies implemented since June 2016. 
• It is a part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of upgrading under-serviced air routes. 
• The UDAN scheme will run for 10 years