{"id":14208,"date":"2026-05-27T07:39:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/udan-scheme\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:39:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:39:20","slug":"udan-scheme","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/udan-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"UDAN Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) is the Government of India’s regional air connectivity scheme launched in 2017 to make air travel affordable and accessible to common citizens by connecting unse<\/a>rved and underserved airports in smaller cities and towns. The name UDAN means “flight” in Hindi and captures the vision of bringing air travel to everyday people.<\/p>\n

What Is the UDAN Scheme<\/a>?<\/h2>\n

UDAN provides subsidised air connectivity to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities that previously had no or limited scheduled flights. Airlines that agree to operate on these routes receive a viability gap funding (VGF) subsidy from the government to make operations economically viable even with low passenger volume<\/a>s.<\/p>\n

How UDAN Works<\/h2>\n

– Airlines bid for routes under UDAN auctions
\n– Winning airlines operate flights with a set number of seats at a capped fare (currently Rs 2,500 for 1-hour flights under UDAN 4.0)
\n– The government pays VGF to make the route commercially viable
\n– Airports on UDAN routes receive funding for infrastructure development<\/p>\n

Key Features<\/h2>\n

– **Fare cap**: affordable one-way fares capped at approximately Rs 2,500 per hour of flying
\n– **Helicopter routes**: UDAN also covers helicopter connectivity (UDAN-Heli) for remote areas
\n– **Seaplane routes**: UDAN 4.0 includes seaplane connectivity for water-bound areas
\n– **VGF sharing**: VGF is shared between the central government and state governments<\/p>\n

Impact<\/h2>\n

– Airports operational in cities like Deoghar, Kishangarh, Jharsuguda, Shillong, and dozens more
\n– Many cities got their first scheduled air service under UDAN
\n– Air passenger traffic from smaller airports has increased significantly
\n– India’s civil aviation network expanded from 74 airports (pre-UDAN) to over 100<\/p>\n

Challenges<\/h2>\n

– Some routes remain commercially unviable even with VGF, leading to suspension
\n– Lack of night landing facilities and terminal infrastructure at smaller airports
\n– Low passenger volume on some routes makes sustainability difficult<\/p>\n

Practical Example<\/h2>\n

Deoghar in Jharkhand, a major pilgrimage site, had no direct flight connectivity before UDAN. After a flight was launched under UDAN, a devotee from Kolkata could fly to Deoghar in 1 hour for Rs 2,500 instead of taking a 7-hour train journey. Pilgrimage-related tourism increased, boosting local businesses.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

– UDAN provides subsidised air connectivity to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with viability gap funding
\n– Affordable fare cap of approximately Rs 2,500 per hour of flying
\n– India’s operational airport count expanded from 74 to over 100 airports since UDAN
\n– Covers fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and seaplanes
\n– Some routes remain unviable without sustained subsidy, creating long-term sustainability questions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) is the Government of India’s regional air connectivity scheme launched in 2017 to make air travel affordable and accessible to common citizens by connecting unserved and underserved airports in smaller cities and towns. The name UDAN means “flight” in Hindi and captures the vision of bringing air travel to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14208","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"web-stories-poster-portrait":false,"web-stories-publisher-logo":false,"web-stories-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team Lemonn","author_link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/author\/ashu\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) is the Government of India’s regional air connectivity scheme launched in 2017 to make air travel affordable and accessible to common citizens by connecting unserved and underserved airports in smaller cities and towns. The name UDAN means “flight” in Hindi and captures the vision of bringing air travel to…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}