Problems With UDAN; Industry Raises Capacity Shortage Issue At Major Airports

As the government is set to roll out components of the New Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) on Friday, industry experts and stakeholders came together to voice their concerns regarding the implementation of aviation ministry’s flagship scheme for regional connectivity, Udey Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN). The NCAP, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet on 15 June, is aimed at promoting regional connectivity between un-served and under-served areas and extending viability gap funding.

The country currently has more than 349 un-served and 16 under-served airports.

In an hour-long roundtable hosted by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, participants expressed concern over a wide range of issues, including the non-availability of slots in India’s busiest airports such as Mumbai and Delhi. Drawing the minister’s attention towards the 'hub and spoke' model, the experts stated the importance of maintaining the availability of slots at major airports for the realisation of the scheme's objective.

As India’s domestic air traffic will continue to grow at a fast pace over the next decade, availability of new slots will prove decisive. With all major airlines operating out of India’s bustling metros - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, airports in these cities run on full capacity and suffer from non-availability of new slots. In order to connect new destinations, more flights will be required. For more flights, it is important that new slots are available.

Further, participants also expressed concern over rising overhead cost. The main objective of the scheme, which remains to cap the cost of air travel, will remain unrealised if the cost of servicing, landing and fuel continue to rise.