UDAN pacts signed for three airports

CHANDIGARH: Flights from three Punjab cities — Ludhiana, Pathankot and Adampur — will be made operational to the national capital soon.

To promote affordable air travel, the Punjab government on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) project. Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh was present on the occasion.

While the Ludhiana-Delhi (Deccan) and Pathankot-Delhi flights will start by July, the Adampur-Delhi flight (Spicejet) will be see the light of day by August.

Amarinder lauded the initiative saying it would give a boost to the local trade and industry, especially in Ludhiana, besides helping the state explore untapped commercial potential in border areas to create job avenues.

The Bathinda, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Adampur airports have been connected under the scheme. The Bathinda-Delhi flight (Alliance Air) is already operational.

About 1 lakh seats will be made available under the scheme, wherein 50 per cent seats will be under fare cap (concessional fare).

Requirement of viability gap funding will be shared by the Centre and the state government in 80:20 ratio.

Routes under UDAN, a regional connectivity scheme, are selected through a transparent bidding process. During the first round of bidding, 27 proposals have been awarded.