PM Modi flags off first UDAN flights for common man
"Air travel is now not just for the rich, I want air travel to be for all," PM Modi said after flagging off flights from Jubbarhatti, an airport on the outskirts of Shimla.
The scheme, named Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik, connects small towns with big cities and stipulates the lowest airfare at Rs. 2,500.
The PMO said in a twit that UDAN is a first-of-its-kind scheme globally to stimulate regional connectivity through a market-based mechanism.
The flights PM Modi flagged off are on the Shimla-Delhi sector, the Kadapa-Hyderabad and the Nanded-Hyderabad sectors.
"My dream was to see a person who wears a hawai chappal (slipper) to fly on the hawai jahaz (aeroplane)," he said.
Earlier, Modi had tweeted : "UDAN makes air travel accessible to a wider range of citizens & enhances connectivity with many more airports across India."
The UDAN Scheme is a key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) which was released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 15th June, 2016.
The AAI followed a transparent bidding process by inviting interested bidders and airline operators to submit their Initial Proposals under the provisions of Regional Connectivity Scheme and subsequently inviting counter proposals against such Initial Proposals.
The routes and networks are awarded to bidders who submitted valid proposals and quoted the lowest viability gap funding (VGF) from the government for such routes and networks.
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