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UDAN airports fail to take off

Traffic & investment shuns them
Last Updated 16 December 2022, 16:01 IST

On Wednesday, in Parliament, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, spoke about the government focussing on last mile air connectivity to Tier-III cities. However, six years after the government launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN), the success rate of the 70 airports and 451 routes launched under it, fails to instil confidence in the government’s implementation process.

In a far cry from the country’s top five airports fighting serious congestion of air-travellers, business at these smaller airports is lacklustre and routes are largely unserved. Analysts blame the choice of destinations and the reluctant investments made so far for this.

A 2021 report by the credit rating agency ICRA Ltd found that only 47 per cent of the routes and 39 per cent of the airports operationalised under the scheme (launched in 2017) were functional. “The slow progress of UDAN implementation is attributable to delayed upgradation of infrastructure and readiness of airports” explained Shubham Jain, SVP & Group Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA.

According to Union budget documents about Rs 2,959.81 crore has been funnelled into the UDAN scheme between 2017 and 2022. Clearly this has not helped to improve the situation much. Data provided by CAPA (Center for Asia Pacific Aviation) India, reveal that of the 70 airports set up under UDAN 46 are underserved airports with less than 7 scheduled commercial flight departures per week. Another 17 are unserved airports with no scheduled commercial flights. The remaining 7 are merely helipads.

Most analysts see it as a ‘chicken and egg situation’. To be able to function efficiently these airports need proper infrastructure. However, investments are not forthcoming in absence of adequate traffic flow, they point out. The limited infrastructure discourages passenger patronage, affecting the airports’ profitability, dampening the flow of investments to upgrade facilities. It’s a vicious circle.

As a frequent traveller, Pavan Kumar, sharing his consternation on arriving at the Pondicherry airport, said, “It was one of the smallest airports I’ve been to. The runway barely had space for an ATR or a Bombardier. The terminal was a makeshift structure without any proper facilities for passengers.”

Archaic check-in and security systems, lack of cafeteria, conveyor belts and other passenger amenities, thwart the operations of these airports and make them unattractive destinations.

These experiences have raised questions about the efficacy of RCS-UDAN. They point out that merely building more airports is not enough. For all the subsidies given to minimise costs, the absence of stable traffic and revenue streams, will only yield patchy services, impacting the viability of these airports, observed Satyendra Pandey, managing partner at aviation advisory, AT-TV. Going on to highlight how the scheme has been counterproductive for airlines, he added, "UDAN subsidy ironically drives up fares on several metro routes because of the funding mechanism."

A report submitted by the Standing Committee on Civil Aviation to the Parliament, earlier this year, called for fresh thinking “to optimally utilise public resources with a view to create world class facilities and provide an edge in civil aviation infrastructure”. It also sought close coordination with concerned state governments to remove bottlenecks in the operationalisation of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) routes.

“To integrate regional air connectivity and boost demand, India and local governments should work to develop local brand identity to focus on core tourism attractions in the regions as their unique selling point,” suggested Trevor Buckley, Digital Marketing Manager, Acumen Aviation. This could stimulate demand into Tier 2 and Tier 3 UDAN routes and Tier 4 float plane destinations, he added.

Several aviation analysts and operators noted that one solution for India, may lie in leveraging on the massive footfall seen in pilgrimage destinations such as Amritsar, Tirupati, Shirdi and Tiruchirappalli or medical destinations such as Vellore. This would require an overhaul of the brand image of these cities. Remarkably at the launch of UDAN’s version 4.3, the Ministry of Civil Aviation presented a tie-up with the Ministry of Tourism with a statement: “Under UDAN 4.3, emphasis would be on routes, specially requested by the (tourism) ministry, which are not currently operational.”

“We also need to explore the option of building modular airports which cost a fraction of regular airports, and offer opportunities for dynamic planning based on immigration patterns, competing modes of transport, land acquisition and weather patterns,” said the chief executive of an international airline on condition of anonymity.

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(Published 16 December 2022, 16:01 IST)

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