UDAN scheme crucial for growth of North-eastern states, says Hardeep Singh Puri

Effective implementation of UDAN scheme is not only crucial for the growth of North-eastern states but also for providing affordable aviation to the citizens, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, while chairing a meeting on the regional connectivity scheme (RCS-UDAN) with Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of N-E states, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Daman and Diu via video conferencing. 

In the meeting on Monday, Puri said that issues of modernisation, expansion, development of airports and increasing connectivity in the participating States//UTs were among the various issues that were discussed. The official statement said, "The focus was to discuss and resolve issues concerning rollout of RCS-UDAN and take stock of progress being made." 

Notably, the N-E states and UTs were the first in the series of video conferencing planned for periodic review of the RCS-UDAN scheme,

Another development in the aviation sector yesterday was that airline operations of private air carriers SpiceJet and IndiGo would now be shifted from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 of Delhi Airport. The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) announced this in consultation with the private air carriers. The order will reportedly be effective from September 5, 2019. 

Shifting of SpiceJet and IndiGo operations will reportedly result in reduction of passenger load by 27 per cent at T2. The announcement has been made as the Terminal 2 is undergoing infrastructure enhancement. 

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Currently, the entire fleet of GoAir operates from T2, while IndiGo and SpiceJet operate partial flights from T2, while the state-run air carrier Air India, Vistara and Air Asia India flights operate from T3.