New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme on 21st October, 2016 for providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country. The primary objective of RCS is to facilitate and stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable.
Promoting affordability of Regional air connectivity is envisioned under RCS by supporting airline operators through
(i)Concessions by Central Government, State Governments and airport operators to reduce the cost of airline operations on regional routes and
(ii)Financial support (viability gap funding or VGF) to meet the gap, if any, between the cost of airline operations and expected revenues on such routes.
RCS-UDAN is a demand-driven scheme, where airline operators undertake assessment of demand on particular routes. Selection of airlines will be done through transparent bidding process.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
