Ministry of Civil Aviation Launches UDAN 5.0: Check its details and other key features

After four successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has finally launched the 5th round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) or UDAN 5.0, which aims to further enhance connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country and achieve last mile connectivity. On April 21, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) started the process of inviting bids from airlines for various routes under the fifth round of bidding for the same.

With the ministry launching UDAN 5.0, here are the key features of the same: :

1. The latest version of UDAN will be focusing on Category 2 with 20-80 seats and Category 3 with more than 80 seats).
2. The earlier stage length cap of 600 km has been waived off, and there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight.
3.  Viability gap funding (VGF) to be provided will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority areas, which was earlier capped at 500 km.
4.  No predetermined routes would be offered under UDAN 5.0, and only Network and Individual Route Proposal proposed by airlines would be considered.
5.  The airlines will now need to submit an action/business plan after 2 months from the issuance of the Letter of Award (LoA), wherein they submit their aircraft acquisition plan/availability of aircraft, crew, slots, etc., at the time of the Technical Proposal.
6.  The same route will not be awarded to a single airline more than once, whether in different networks or in the same network.
7.  Exclusivity will be withdrawn if the average quarterly Passenger Load Factor is higher than 75 per cent for four consecutive quarters to prevent exploitation of the monopoly on a route.
8.  25 per cent of the Performance Guarantee to be encashed for each month of delay up to 4 months, to further incentivise quick operationalisation.
9.  Airlines would be required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route. Earlier, this deadline was 6 months.
10.  A list of airports that are ready for operation or would soon be ready for operations has been included in the scheme to facilitate quicker operationalisation of routes under the Scheme.
11.  The Novation process for routes from one operator to another is simplified and incentivised.

"UDAN has proved to be the lifeblood of many regions that are now well connected with places across the country. This new and stronger version of the scheme will raise the momentum, connect new routes, and bring us closer to the target of operationalising 1000 routes and 50 additional airports, heliports, and water aerodromes in the near future," added Shri Jyotiraditya Scinda, Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, while commenting on the launch of UDAN 5.0.

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