Indore-Gwalior maiden flight under UDAN scheme from May 31

Indore: Under recently launched UDAN scheme by the Centre, MP is going to get its maiden flight between Indore and Gwalior from May 31, bookings for which have already started. As per objective of the scheme, its fare is being kept very attractive. UDAN scheme is a component of National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) released on June 15, 2016 which was launched on April 27, by PM Narendra Modi in Shimla. UDAN, which means ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (Let every commoner of the country fly), is an endeavour to boost regional connectivity with flights covering distances up to 800 km through a market-based mechanism.

Aviation sources say following a study by ministry of civil aviation, 43 cities have been identified which are either underserved or un-served. In Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior airport was identified as under-served one. Thus it was listed for tapping under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) and is subsequently going to be linked with two commercially potential cities Indore and New Delhi from May 31. Sources said though the scheme had to be launched in four phases with Gwalior in the second phase, from where flight operations had to start from June, due to strong efforts of the ministry, this was going to happen from the current month end.

Aviation sources said Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air would operate flights between Indore-Gwalior-New Delhi under RCS. Sharing the schedule of the flight sources said from Gwailor it will depart at 12.15 pm and arrive here at 1.40 pm. It will depart for Gwalior at 2.10 pm, from where it will take off for New Delhi. Alliance Air will operate flights thrice a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays using a 74-seater ATR all-economy class aircraft. As on Monday, fare of Indore-Gwalior was Rs 2,650, while return fare was Rs 2,539. As per policy, from total seats, 50 would be put under UDAN scheme, where fare for one hour flight would be around Rs 2,500 only. This would be a subsidised fare. Government would pay the subsidy amount to airlines through Viability Gap Funding (VGF). VGF will be used to bridge the gap between the cost of airline operations and expected revenue.  At present there is only road and rail connectivity between Indore and Gwalior. Travel by both means of transportation takes almost 12 hours, while through flight it would be completed in one hour.

Source: freepressjournal.in