The latest places to be added to the UDAN Scheme are Hampi, Gangtok, Patnagar & Shimla. Now you can travel to these destinations faster and at a cheap fare too. Consider this a huge plus point when planning your next trip!
So What is The UDAN Scheme?
UDAN stands for 'Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' or it simply means, /letting the common citizen fly?. It is a scheme started by the Civil Aviation Ministry in April 2017, which connects flights from major cities to the unserved and underserved airports of some of the most popular tourist destinations in India at cheap fares. It was started as a measure to boost tourism in such places as well as provide cheap airfares.The first year of the scheme saw over 11 lakh flyers!
The fare rates are controlled with accordance to the flight duration and a maximum fare cap. Half hour flights start from 1,100 rupees and go up to 2,500 rupees. And a cap of 3,500 rupees for distances of 800 kilometres or more.
New Air Routes Launched
Tourism in Hampi, Karnataka is already massive due to its culturally rich monuments. Bonus info: THE New York Times ranked Hampi at a number 2 spot in the ?52 Places to Go in 2019? article published on 10th January 2019. And thanks to TruJet airlines, you can get direct flights from Hyderabad and Bangalore to Bellary, which is just a 1.5 hour drive from Hampi.Gangtok, Sikkim has huge potential to be one of the top tourist destinations in India due to its unique culture, cuisine, extremely friendly people and more. With the UDAN scheme, you can now fly from Guwahati and Kolkata to Pakyong, which is just an hour away from Gangtok.
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, is on a very difficult terrain and the new flight routes are from Delhi, which runs four times a week directly to the Shimla Airport.
And as the first international flight under the scheme, Guwahati is now connected to Dhaka, Bangladesh!
So, book those tickets and keep flying and exploring!