Ministry of Civil Aviation Launched UDAN 5.1

The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched UDAN 5.1, an enhanced version of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN) with an aim to boost connectivity to remote areas of the country through helicopters. Stakeholders including helicopter operators collaborated in designing the current version of the scheme. UDAN 5.1 has an extended operational scope that allows routes having either the origin or destination in a priority area. In contrast to this, the previous versions required both points to be in priority areas. The airfare caps have been diminished by about 25% in order to make flying more affordable. Furthermore, the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) caps for operators have seen a considerable increase for both single and twin-engine helicopters, thus improving the financial feasibility of operation.

Important Points:

  1. UDAN 5.1 is the latest version of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN -Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
  2. The scheme aims to provide last-mile connectivity to remote regions of India using helicopters.
  3. A total of 46 helicopter routes have been operationalized under previous versions of the scheme.
  4. It enables operations on routes where either the origin or destination is in a priority area.
  5. Airfare caps have been reduced by 25% to facilitate affordability in helicopter transportation.
  6. The Viability Gap Funding (VGF) caps for the operators have seen a large increase.