PM Modi launches first three flights under UDAN scheme

The government's much-awaited plan to provide low-cost air connectivity took off on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the first three flights under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) called Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN). Flagging off the first flight from Shimla to New Delhi, the PM said, "I want to see people who wear Hawaii chappal (rubber slippers) in a hawai jahaaz (aircraft). Earlier we used to believe that air travel was meant only for rajahs and maharajahs. This is the thinking that we need to change." Modi added that the Delhi-Shimla flight, with a fare of Rs 2,036 per seat, will be cheaper than a taxi ride. The scheme that was announced in October 2016 seeks to popularise regional air travel on short sectors by capping fares at Rs 2,500 per hour.

The flight from Shimla will be operated by Air India's subsidiary, Alliance Air five times a week.

Apart from the Delhi-Shimla flight, the prime minister also simultaneously flagged off RCS flights on the Kadapa-Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad sectors through a video-conference at the event. The minimum fare for a one-way ticket along these two routes is Rs 1,000. In the first phase of RCS, the scheme will connect 128 routes in 70 airports.