New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three more regional airports on Sunday on the occasion of completion of eight years of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). These include Rewa Airport in Madhya Pradesh, Saharanpur Airport in Uttar Pradesh and Ambikapur Airport in Chhattisgarh. Prime Minister Modi inaugurated these three airports digitally from Varanasi.

To connect small cities of the country with each other through air travel, the Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme was launched eight years ago on 21 October under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). The result of this was that now air travel from Bihar to Darbhanga and from Odisha's Jharsuguda to big cities like Delhi has become possible and people of small cities have started to travel by air.

First air service started from Shimla to Delhi

The first air service under the Udan scheme was started from Shimla to Delhi and since then, 1.5 crore people have travelled by air under this scheme alone.

Due to the construction of airports under RCS and starting air travel from there, the number of operational airports has increased from 74 to 157 in the last 10 years. The government has set a target of increasing the number of airports to 400 by the year 2047. 86 aerodromes were built under RCS, of which 71 airports, 13 aerodromes with helicopter service and two water aerodromes have been built. Due to the construction of airport in a remote hilly area like Pithoragarh under RCS, it has become easier to come from Pithoragarh to Dehradun and this service is also helping the country strategically.

There was also a rapid change in the business of the sector

Under the Udan service, the state government charges less VAT on fuel and also provides various kinds of necessary assistance, which reduces the cost of passenger tickets under Udan. According to the Aviation Ministry, with the start of the Udan service, the business of this sector is also changing rapidly.

Regional airlines like Flybig, Star Air, India One, Fly 91 are seeing a rise in business and passengers will benefit from the increased competition among them in the future. With the help of flight services, tourism in small cities is getting a boost.

The number of tourists increased due to the opening of the airport

With the opening of airports in cities like Khajuraho, Deoghar, Amritsar, Kishangarh (Ajmer), the number of tourists is constantly increasing there. With the restoration of flight services in small cities like Pasighat, Hollongi, Ziro, Tezu, tourism in the North-East is getting a boost.