The government has fixed at Rs 5,000 the levy on scheduled flights, being charged from the airlines flying on major routes, to fund its regional connectivity scheme, UDAN. To fund the ambitious regional connectivity scheme-- UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) -- the Civil Aviation Ministry is collecting a levy of up to Rs 8,500 per departure from airlines operating on major domestic routes, including Mumbai and Delhi. The UDAN scheme, under which airfares have been kept at Rs 2,500 for a one hour flights, is aimed at making the air travel more affordable and providing air services to the hinterland. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has already challenged the collection of levy from carriers for the RCS fund in the court. In the first round of UDAN bidding, five airlines won bids to operate on 128 routes connecting 70 airports, of which 31 are un-served.

Source: dna May 15, 2017 14:15 UTC