Udan: Modi to flag off first RCS flight from Shimla today

Himachal govt yet to approve viability gap funding demand made by Alliance Air of Rs 1.4 lakh/flight

An Alliance Air ATR-42 aircraft with 15 passengers will take off from Shimla airport on 11.15 am on Thursday heralding the launch of regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the Shimla-Delhi flight from Himachal Pradesh capital and launch two other services (Kadapa-Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad) under the government policy, which aims to link unconnected towns with affordable fares.

The Kadapa-Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderbad flights will be operated by TruJet and minimum tickets on these two routes is priced at Rs 1,000 one way.

“We will operate the ATR-42 aircraft five times a week between Delhi-Shimla. The demand is positive and seats on the route are filling up fast,” said Alliance Air chief executive officer C S Subbhaih. Alliance Air is a subsidiary of Air India. 

Under the RCS  an airline is bound to sell 50% of the seats at subsidised fares and on Delhi-Shimla route one way ticket is priced at Rs 1,920. The ATR-42  aircraft has 48 seats but due to restrictions at the Shimla airport Alliance Air will only be able to fill 35 seats  to Shimla and 15 seats for its return leg to Delhi. The highest system fare on Delhi-Shimla route has been kept at Rs 20,000 one way.  

While a total of 70 airports have been selected under the RCS, the launch from Shimla has a significance. Despite being a state capital, Shimla lacked air connectivity and a writ petition was filed in state high court demanding resumption of flights, which were suspended in 2012. The petition is currently being heard in the Supreme Court.

Alliance Air is seeking a viability gap funding of Rs 1.4 lakh per return flight from Himachal Pradesh government to cover its costs. The state government has as yet not accepted the demand but the airline is hopeful of a positive response.

“We will launch service on Nanded-Mumbai route from May 15. Currently we have four ATR-72 aircraft and we will increase our fleet to six by July end. Totally we have decided to operate on 18 routes,” said  V Umesh, managing director of TruJet.

Along with Alliance Air and TruJet, SpiceJet, Air Odisha and Air Deccan have been selected under the regional connectivity scheme.

Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey  had earlier said the scheme would leapfrog India’s aviation sector. “From a rate of one airport annually, we have leapfrogged to connecting 33 airports in a single year,” Choubey said, adding the routes have a uniform spread across the country.

The scheme offers 50% subsidy to airlines on these routes, route monopoly for three years and a host of other concessions at landing airports. It expects the airlines to cap fares at Rs 2,500 a seat an hour rate on regional flights. The government has finalised a levy on tickets to fund the scheme.

The Federation of Indian Airlines — which consists of IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and GoAir, and has around 80% market share — had moved court contesting that the government had no authority to impose a levy in the nature of tax on air services. Major airlines opposing the government’s move had put a question on the viability of the scheme and the government found it difficult to mop up fund to set up a corpus for the scheme.