PM Modi's UDAN gives an adrenaline shot to smaller Indian airports

The number of passengers at airports joined by the Regional Connectivity Scheme, or UDAN, has been increasing exponentially

The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) named UDAN by the Modi government has served as an adrenaline shot for small-town airports within a short span of time. In October 2016, the Modi government had sanctioned 64 routes to airlines connecting smaller cities with each other and with India’s metropolitan cities and state capitals. According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), almost five million people took flights to or from these airports in 2017-18. In 2016-17, almost four million people had used these airports. Between April 2017, when the first UDAN flight was operationalised, and August 2018, a little over two