Page 29 - NIS English May16-31

7 YEARS TRANSFORMATION

Building a New India THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

MAKING AIR TRAVEL

ACCESSIBLE FOR THE n Under this scheme so far an estimated 53

Lakh people have undertaken air flights for
COMMON MAN n Rs 2,500
Now plans are afoot to connect 1,000 air
routes in the country which will enable one
My aim is to make people wearing Crore travellers to take flights
'hawai-chappal' fly in a 'hawai-jahaz' n At present, through the 5 heliports, 53
airports and 2 water aerodromes the
This remarkable slogan highlights Prime
n air services are operational in over 303
Minister Narendra Modi's dedication towards routes
ensuring air travel accessible to the common n The helicopter and seaplane services
citizens of the country by bringing down the have been also brought under the ambit
airfares. In a short span of time his vision has of the Udan scheme. Eleven operators are
turned into a reality as the common citizens are facilitating cheaper flights to the Udan air
able to take flights at a price as low as Rs 2,500 travellers
n The scheme envisages starting 1,000 new
Under the Udan scheme, the aim is to provide
n air routes and operationalising as many as
affordable air travel to everyone. Surprisingly 100 airports
the average cost of travel by flights would n The work is also in progress to overhaul
come down to Rs 5 per kilometre under this the aviation infrastructure by adding 30
ambitious scheme whereas even travel by taxi new heliports and 10 water aerodromes
costs Rs 10 per kilometre in India for sea-planes

An hour-long air journey of 500 km by a fixed- n India's first seaplane service between
n Ahmedabad and Kevadia in Gujarat was
wing aircraft or a half an hour journey by a inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra
helicopter has been capped at Rs 2,500 only
Modi last year
New India Samachar 27