Eight more air routes added under UDAN scheme

Eight more routes have become functional under the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN, the Central government said on Saturday.

Of these, two are in the northeast region. "With this, the total UDAN routes operational have increased to 194 routes," said an official statement.

The new routes are -- Mysore-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Mysore, Mysore-Goa, Goa-Mysore, Mysore-Kochi, Kochi-Mysore, Kolkata-Shillong, and Shillong-Kolkata.

The flights connecting Kolkata and Shillong will be served by IndoGo while the others will be operated by Alliance Air.

The UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme aims to make flying affordable besides connecting underserved and unserved airports across the country.

India ranks as the world's third-largest domestic aviation market and the government has proposed to hike foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in domestic air carriers from existing 49 per cent.

The country's aviation sector is fast expanding its capacity expansion with the addition of more than 500 aircraft in coming years, providing a significant opportunity for leasing and financing.