Aditya Kakkar

New Delhi: While the initial buoyancy of the civil aviation ministry’s flagship scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) spoke of an emerging India, it subsequently failed to create a flutter in the Indian skies. The ministry, in a bid to bolster greater connectivity, relaxed the norms on August 24. Some of the relaxations include dilution of the exclusivity clause mandating that only one airline may fly on one route in the initial years and norms that restricted two airports in close proximity from participating in the bidding. Also, the focus will be on Northeast India and Kashmir, thus strengthening the possibility of development through mobility.

“Airlines have ordered 100 regional planes so second round will be even more interesting,” said aviation secretary R.N. Choubey on the sidelines of a press conference.  One such airline is IndiGo, which has signed a term sheet with France-based company ATR for 50 ATR 72-600 aircraft. ATR primarily focuses on below-90-seat regional aircrafts and the deal with IndiGo is worth USD 1.3 billion. The aircraft are expected to begin operations by the end of 2017.

President, IndiGo, Aditya Ghosh had earlier said in May 2017, “In support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s UDAN vision, we are embarking on a journey to build a nation-wide regional network and connect cities that have not benefitted from the growth in Indian aviation. The ATRs low operating costs will help us build a large regional air travel network with reasonable fares. These aircraft will feature modern cabin interiors, thus making the flight a comfortable experience for our passengers. The ATR’s outstanding operational versatility, along with their capabilities to land in remote airports with limited infrastructure will help us manage our operations efficiently.”

Budget airline SpiceJet had