Context:

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, recently flagged off the first direct flight between Delhi and heritage city of Khajuraho.

Key Facts:

=> With the start of this flight, a total of 405 routes would be operationalized under UDAN-RCS scheme.

=> Under the RCS-UDAN 3.0, SpiceJet was awarded with the Delhi-Khajuraho-Delhi route.

=> SpiceJet will operate flights on 2 days of the week namely Friday and Sunday.

=> It will deploy its Q400, 78-seater turboprop aircraft, that has been designed for shorter distance flights on this route.

=> SpiceJet is largest regional carrier and strongest supporter of the scheme.

SpiceJet under UDAN Scheme:

The SpiceJet airline operates 65 daily flights under the UDAN scheme. It connects 14 UDAN destinations to various several part of India. currently, SpiceJet services Jabalpur and Gwalior airports in Madhya Pradesh. With Khajuraho added to the list, it will be 15th UDAN destination of SpiceJet.

Flight Training Organizations:

Apart from the UDAN flight, 2 new Flight Training Organizations will come up in Khajuraho. It will help in training our commercial pilots.

Khajuraho airport:

Khajuraho airport was established in 1978, with flight services to Agra, Varanasi and Delhi. Ministry of Civil Aviation has invested Rs 50 crore in the airport. Advanced facilities were incorporated, with installation of instrument landing system, night landing facility, a 1,20,000 sq ft new terminal building, new ATC towers and recarpeting of runway. The flight started before the start of Khajuraho dance festival.

About UDAN Scheme:

UDAN Scheme stands for “Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik”. This scheme was launched as a regional connectivity scheme in 2016, by Ministry of Civil Aviation. It is an innovative scheme that was launched to develop regional Aviation market. Scheme was launched with the objective of creating affordable, economically viable and profitable flights across regional routes. It seeks to make flying affordable to the common man. Airport seeks to provide connectivity to un-served and underserved airports in India by reviving existing air-strips and airports. Till date, scheme has been implemented in four phases. It will be operational for a period of 10 years.