MoCA debuts 5th round of regional connectivity scheme

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has begun the fifth round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) to further improve connection to rural and regional parts of the nation and attain last-mile connectivity after the first four rounds of bidding were successful.

The earlier stage length constraint of 600 km has been eliminated and there are no restrictions on the distance between the origin and destination of the trip in UDAN 5.0, which concentrates on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats). There will be no set routes available and the viability gap funding (VGF) will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority sectors, up from the previous cap of 500 km. Under UDAN 5.0, only airline-proposed network and individual route proposals would be taken into account.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, under UDAN 5.0, the airlines would be required to submit an action/business plan after 2 months from the issuance of LoA wherein they submit their aircraft acquisition plan/availability of aircraft, crew, slots, etc. at the time of the Technical Proposal and the same route will not be awarded to a single airline more than once, whether in different networks or in the same network.

In order to prevent neglect of the monopoly on a route, exclusivity will be withdrawn if the average quarterly PLF rises above 75% for four consecutive quarters. The ministry also stated that 25% of the performance guarantee amount will be cashed for each month of delay up to four months, which will serve as an additional incentive for routes to be operationalized promptly.

Under UDAN 5.0, airlines must start up their operations no later than four months after the route has been awarded; the previous limit was six months. To allow rapid operationalization of routes covered by the scheme and to streamline and incentivise route novation under UDAN 5.0, a list of airports that are ready for operation or will soon be ready for operation has been added to the scheme.  

Commenting on the launch of UDAN 5.0, the Minister of Civil Aviation & Steel, Shri Jyotiraditya Scinda said, “UDAN has proved to be a lifeblood of many regions which are now well connected with places across the country. This new & stronger version of the scheme will raise the momentum, connecting new routes, and bring us closer to the target of operationalizing 1000 routes & 50 additional airports, heliports, and water aerodromes in the near future. अब उड़ेगा देश का हर आम नागरिक!”

UDAN 5.0 is another step towards the prime minister’s vision of the common man travelling by air at affordable and subsidized airfares, said the Ministry of Civil Aviation.