Pay more to fund regional flights

New Delhi, July 1

Flyers will soon have to shell out slightly more for tickets to fund the government’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme under which airfares will be capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights on un-served and under-served routes.

The government today unveiled the draft Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), which was mooted in the new civil aviation policy, for consultations with stakeholders’, including state governments, airlines and airport operators.

The stakeholders have been given three weeks to submit their comments and suggestions on the draft scheme, which is expected to be finalised by August.

“The fare for a one-hour flight of approximately 500 km on a fixed-wing aircraft or a 30-minute helicopter ride has been fixed at Rs 2,500,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said while unveiling the draft scheme here.

He added that fares for other route lengths or durations will be priced proportionately (though not linearly).

“The states are interested in connectivity ... Their feedback will also be taken into account. The Central Government cannot bypass states. We will take them into confidence and work with them to make this (RCS) happen,” Raju said.

The proposed scheme would be applicable for air services connecting “un-served and under-served routes” ranging from 200 to 800 km, while there would be no lower limit for hilly, remote, island and security sensitive regions.

“There are 31 airports inactive as of now. So, inactive airports will become low hanging fruits in different states,” Raju said.

There are 394 un-served and 16 under-served airports in the country. “Of the total 410 airports, the scheme is demand driven. Wherever the state governments and airlines are coming forward for making them functional, we will be very happy to revive those airports,” Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said.

Choubey added that there are about 30 airports that can be used for operations without incurring any extra cost on their revival.

The government had also announced that it would provide funds for revival of another 60 airports, Choubey said, adding that 90 airports were already targeted of the total 410.

Under the proposed scheme, the government would provide viability gap funding (VGF) —which would be financed through Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF). — PTI