New Delhi, Feb 1: As many as 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads will be connected under the government’s regional air connectivity scheme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Thursday.
Presenting the Budget for 2018-19, Jaitley also said that the government has proposed the expansion of airport capacity by more than five times to handle a billion trips a year under a new initiative.
“In the last three years, the domestic air passenger traffic grew at 18 percent per annum and our airline companies placed orders for more than 900 aircraft,” he said.
The regional air connectivity scheme or UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) launched last year seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying more affordable for the masses.
The finance minister said that UDAN “shall connect 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads across the country”, adding that operations have already started at 16 such airports.
With regard to expanding airport capacity, Jaitley said balance sheet of AAI would be leveraged to raise more resources for funding the expansion plans.
State-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) manages 124 airports. (PTI)
