UDAN 5.0

• Ministry of Civil Aviation launches Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)- UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) 5.0
• UDAN Scheme was launched as a Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2016, to provide affordable, economically viable and profitable air travel on regional routes to the common man even in small towns.
• It envisages providing connectivity to un-served and underserved airports of the country through the revival of existing airstrips and airports.
• It was formulated based on the review of National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP)-2016.

UDAN 5.0

• Focuses on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats).
• Length cap of 600 km is waived off.
• No predetermined routes would be offered.
• Viability gap funding (VGF) increased to 600km from 500km earlier.
• Airlines would be required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route (earlier it was six months).
• The same route will not be awarded to a single airline more than once, whether in different networks or in the same network.