Out of the 948 routes awarded within the last five years, only 403 routes connecting 65 unserved and underserved airports are operational as of December 2021. So much for prime flying. Glaringly, only 22 routes out of the 94 total routes survived after the three-year subsidy period under the UDAN scheme. The UDAN scheme was flagged off with much fanfare in October 2016 but has floundered. Since then, 154 RCS unconnected airports – including 14 aerodromes and 36 heliports – are identified for the operation of flights. Out of those, currently, only 65 have resumed flights. The catch here is that these 403 routes are facing challenges of their own. The pandemic has made the going tougher. Out of those 403 routes, a whopping majority of 300 routes are affected thanks ...
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