Bids for world’s largest regional air connectivity programme

The most recent iteration of the Indian government's flagship programme to improve air connectivity would concentrate on Category-2 and Category-3 routes using aircraft with 20–80 seats and more than 80 seats, respectively. In an effort to increase air connection to the country's most remote locations, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday announced the start of the fifth bidding round of the regional connectivity programme, which is arguably the world's largest such operation. The Regional Connectivity Scheme-Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS UDAN) will concentrate on Category-2 and Category-3 routes for aircraft with 20–80 seats and those with more over 80 seats in this round. Notably, the prior length cap of 600 km has been removed, and flights operated under the system can now travel as far as they choose between their origin and destination. Viability gap funding (VGF) to operators has been increased from 500 km to 600 km for both priority and non-priority sectors, which is a noteworthy addition. Furthermore, no pre-established routes are provided; rather, only network and individual routes suggested by airlines will be taken into consideration.