Telangana News

The Central government is deciding to levy up to Rs. 8500 per flight flight on major routes to fund the regional air connectivity scheme. While the levy amount would be for an entire flight, the price of each ticket would rise, depending on the number of seats in that particular flight.

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is aiming to connect small cities by air as well as make flying more affordable for the masses.

The ministry with the intention of providing viability gap funding for the flights operated under the regional connectivity scheme, would impose a levy on every departure on major air routes such as the Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

"The levy for an up to 1,000 kilometre length of scheduled flight will be Rs 7,500 per flight, Rs 8,000 for a 1,000 to 1,500 kilometre flight and Rs 8,500 for flights above 1,500 kilometre," Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said. The Centre would create the Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) for UDAN.

With the levy, the government estimates to have Rs 400 crore for RCF, Choubey said. “In addition to this, another 20 per cent (funding) will come from state governments. We are roughly looking at around Rs 500 crore per year available in the kitty,” Choubey said.