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Regional flights under new scheme from February: Minister
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SME Times News Bureau | 20 Jan, 2017
The central government on Thursday said it expects the first flight
under its ambitious 'regional connectivity scheme' (RCS) to operate by
next month.
"The first RCS flight is expected to be operated by
late February or early March," Minister of State for Civil Aviation
Jayant Sinha said here. "We have received a very encouraging response
from operators to the RCS."
"In the first phase of bidding under
the RCS, the AAI (Airports Authority of India), which is the
implementing agency for the scheme, has received 43 initial proposals
from 11 bidders covering 190 RCS routes," the minister said.
"The initial proposals are now open for counter-bidding."
According to the minister, the final bids under the RCS will be awarded by February 3.
The
minister pointed out that the scheme is a "game changer" for the Indian
aviation sector, as it will not only augment the number of operational
airports but also increase the total count of schedule operators.
"Currently,
we have 75 operational airports in the country, based on the initial
bids, the number of operational airports will go up to 118 airports,"
Sinha elaborated.
"The scheme will also raise the number of
schedule operations. As out of the 11 bidders some will start to provide
scheduled flights for the first time."
The last date of counter-bids submission against these initial proposals is February 1.
The routes will be awarded to the bidders who quote the lowest requirement of viability gap funding (VGF) against such routes.
Last
year, the government launched the RCS which is a key component of the
National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), whose main objective is to
"enhance regional connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure
development."
The objective of RCS, christened as UDAN (Ude
Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is to enhance air passenger traffic in the country
by stimulating demand on regional routes.
The UDAN scheme will be in operation for a period of 10 years.
The
operations under the scheme are intended to provide air connectivity to
un-served and remote routes with airfare being capped at Rs 2,500 for
an hour's journey of around 500 km.
The allocation of routes
under the scheme will be based on a reverse bidding mechanism, with
selected airlines getting a VGF, apart from various other financial
concessions for a period of three years.
The central government
is expected to provide concessions in the form of reduced excise duty
and service tax, and the state governments will have to lower the VAT
(value added tax) on ATF (air turbine fuel) to one per cent or less.
Besides,
the state governments would not charge on security, and fire services
and electricity, water and other utilities would be provided at
concessional rates.
On their part, airport operators shall not
impose landing and parking charges and terminal navigation landing fees.
They would also offer discounts on route navigation facility charges.
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