New Delhi . Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday said the government will extend the regional air connectivity scheme for another 10 years. During the eight year plan so far, aviation companies have got a chance to come into existence and develop. Along with this, employment was created and tourism got a boost. There are plans to open 50 more airports in the next five years and increase the capacity of existing airports.
Union Minister Naidu was addressing a program organized on the occasion of completion of eight years of ‘Udaan’ scheme in the national capital New Delhi. Civil Aviation Minister in his address said that we are looking at the UDAN plan for the next 10 years, because in the next 5 years we are planning to start 50 more airports and increase the capacity of the existing airports. He said that we think we have the potential to increase the number of airports to more than 200 by 2047. Naidu said that today we have 157 and we can take it to 350.
The Civil Aviation Minister said that the UDAN scheme has been a revolutionary scheme in civil aviation. It came from the thinking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who wanted to democratize air travel. When we have used this UDAN scheme in the last 8 years, its biggest benefit has been to remote areas of the country, especially the North-Eastern regions or hinterland, where there was no connectivity. Now they are well connected through air travel not only with other metros of the country but also with many countries.