Ministry of Civil Aviation

About Ministry

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation of Government of India is the nodal Ministry responsible for the formulation of national policies and programmes for development and regulation of Civil Aviation and for devising and implementing schemes for the orderly growth and expansion of civil air transport.
• Its functions also extend to overseeing airport facilities, air traffic services and carriage of passengers and goods by air.
• This Ministry exercises administrative control over attached and autonomous organizations like the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy and affiliated Public Sector Undertakings like National Aviation Company of India Limited, Airports Authority of India and Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited.

“UDE DESH KA AAM NAAGRIK” (UDAN) / REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY SCHEME (RCS)

Objectives

• • UDAN envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through revival of existing air-strips and airports.
  • Facilitate /stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable by supporting airline operation through –
    • • Concessions by Central Government, State Governments and airport operators
      • Financial (Viability Gap Funding or VGF) support

Salient Features

• • The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the implementing authority.
  • It is a key component of National Civil Aviation Policy.
  • It has a unique market-based model to develop regional connectivity.
  • Provides connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through revival of existing air-strips and airports.
  • It will be applicable on flights which cover distance between 200 km and 800 km with no lower limit set for hilly, remote, island and security sensitive regions.
  • Airlines have to provide a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 40 UDAN Seats (subsidized rates).
  • The Centre will subsidize the losses incurred by airlines flying out of dormant airports.
    • • About 80% of the subsidy will be collected by charging a levy of up to ₹8,500 on each departing flight of domestic airlines and the rest 20% will come from the respective state governments.
  • Provide VGF for operators who cap fares on regional flights at ₹2,500/ hour of flying with proportionate pricing for routes of different stage lengths/flight duration.
  • This would be achieved through –
    • • A financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators
      • A Viability Gap Funding (for 3 years) to the interested airlines to kick-off operations from such airports so that the passenger fares are kept affordable.
  • Regional Connectivity Fund would be created to meet the viability gap funding requirements under the scheme.
  • The partner State Governments (other than NE States and UT where contribution will be 10 %) would contribute a 20% share to this fund.
  • The scheme would be in operation for a period up to 10 years.
  • State governments will have to provide free security and fire service, utilities at concessional rates and reduce VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel to 1 %. No landing charges, parking charges and Terminal Navigation Landing Charges will be imposed for RCS flights.
  • UDAN-2 was launched, under which –
    • • 40% of routes in “new priority areas” that include Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand, North East, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands
      • Kargil will be connected by airport for the first time
      • Helicopter operations also included. For 30 min journey, fare capped at Rs. 2500.
  • Recently UDAN 3 was launched, under which –
    • • Inclusion of Tourism Routes in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism.
      • Inclusion of Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes.
      • Bringing in a number of routes in the North-East Region under the ambit of UDAN.
      • Helicopter routes are not considered under the UDAN 3 bidding.
      • 2 international flights has been started from Guwahati under the International Air Connectivity Scheme (ICAS-Udan) (no capping on funds/prices under this, it will be market driven)

 

INTERNATIONAL AIR CONNECTIVITY SCHEME – UDAN (INTERNATIONAL)

• • A draft scheme for extending the affordable air travel programme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) to international circuits.

Objective

• • To assist State Governments as they seek to facilitate/ stimulate scheduled air connectivity between their respective states and international destinations as selected by them.

Eligibility

• • Only Indian carriers can participate in the international UDAN scheme, and only aircraft with capacity of 70 seats or more can fly the foreign routes.

Salient Features

• • State Govt. led Scheme – State Governments will identify the list of routes to be connected, airline operators will assess demand on the identified routes, submit proposals for providing connectivity on such routes; seek subsidy, if any, while committing to certain minimum operating conditions.
  • Mechanism of support – State governments (not Centre Govt.) shall support airlines through provision of financial (subsidy) support to meet the gap between the cost of airline operations & expected revenues on such routes.
  • Tenure of Subsidy Support- 3 years. A key guiding principle would be to encourage sustainability of operations in the long term such that connectivity established is not dependent on subsidy in perpetuity.
  • Setting up of International Air Connectivity Fund (IACF) – It is a dedicated fund for providing subsidy support under the scheme, to be created through the contributions of state governments.

 

DIGI YATRA

• • Digi Yatra is a Facial Recognition based passenger processing platform, built on 4 key pillars – Connected Passengers, Connected Airports, Connected Flying, and Connected Systems.

Objectives

• • To create a connected ecosystem, enhancing the seamless travel experience for the passengers, and simultaneously improving the security.

Implementing Agency – Airport Authority of India

Salient Features

• • Approach
    • • Data bank of all passengers would be created right from the time of their booking of the airline ticket till the end of their journey.
      • This data bank will be shared with all stakeholders so that manual interference at the airport is reduced to the minimal level.
      • Stakeholders – airlines and security agencies, including immigration agencies at the airport etc.
  • Key Benefits
    • • For Passengers –
        • • Facilitate paperless travel and avoid identity check at multiple points to provide a seamless experience, right from the entry to the airport upto boarding the aircraft.
          • Each passenger would get a unique Digi Yatra ID.
      • For operators –
        • • Airport operator will have travel information in advance for better resource planning.
          • Real-time data of passengers within the terminal will enable the operator to take proactive action to avoid congestion – Less queuing time.
      • For Airlines –
        • • No more missing passenger causing departure delays, as Airlines will have the information of its passenger and their status within the terminal.
          • Intentional Boarding pass exchange by passenger or wrong boarding by mistake will not happen.
      • For Security –
        • • Security will benefit from the ability of the technology to verify the passenger at every checkpoint in a non-intrusive way.
      • Multi-stakeholder coordination –
        • • Leveraging Digi Yatra Technology allows all stakeholders to work in a connected environment for better Airport throughput.

 

OTHER INITIATIVES BY MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

 

 

 

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