Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh in among 109 airports and heliports around the country that have been granted to various airlines and helicopter operators under the second round of bidding for the government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) named Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN).
Arunachal Pradesh will also have towns connected by helicopter operations under UDAN which is introduced for the first time.
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Sources said, the government is offering viability gap funding (VGF) to get airlines interested in operating to smaller cities. If the operators are willing to limit the price under Rs 2,5000 for one hour of flying in at least 50 per cent of the seats on these flights, subject to a maximum of 40 seats. The rest of the seats can be priced at market rates.
The government’s annual allocation of funds due to VGF for the second round of UDAN for the north-eastern region is expected to come down to Rs 213 crore from Rs 620 during the first round of the scheme.
Meanwhile, according to reports, the two budget airliner, SpiceJet and IndiGo had put in almost 20 proposals to operate flights without seeking VGF.
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Notably, Arunachal Pradesh was included under the UDAN of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry in September last year.
A tripartite memorandum of understanding was signed in New Delhi last Tuesday between Arunachal Pradesh government, the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI).