1000 New Routes, 100 New Airports By 2025, Under UDAN Scheme Says Aviation Minister

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that the aviation ministry has plan to facilitate 1000 new air routes and establish 100 new airports by 2025 under the RCS UDAN scheme.

Scindia further added that the air services in the country are being democratized under the UDAN project, and efforts are on to achieve the target of putting in place 1,000 airways and 100 airports by 2025.

Talking about the disinvestment of national carrier Air India, Scindia said that the process is on the track.

“The disinvestment process of Air India is on the right track. For this the financial bids should come in by September 15 and after that the next move would be initiated.”

In the last four years, out of these 1000 new air routes, 363 routes have been started. Out of the target of 100 new airports, 59 airports have already been established: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, in Indore (Madhya Pradesh)

— ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2021

The aviation minister also said a “blueprint” of rules for operating drones had been prepared after discussions with the Defense and Home Ministries.

“As in the case of bigger aircraft, flying paths for drones would be set up and people would be allowed to fly drones in specified areas with the help of software,” the minister said.

On Wednesday, he had said that the central government aimed to provide an affordable air travel facility, which even a person “wearing slippers” could avail.

“As part of the domestic civil aviation sector’s expansion in the past four years, new airports have been opened in many smaller cities and air services started on new routes, connecting these places with big cities,” Scindia had said.

“We want to provide an affordable air travel facility to the common people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has time and again said this facility should be such that even a person wearing ‘hawai chappal’ (slippers) can travel by air. We, in India, have the full potential to make it a reality,” the minister said.

He said the government was making efforts towards expansion of the air services with a view to provide air travel facilities to more and more common people in the coming decade.

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