Hawai Chappal Wale Ka Jahaz Kahan Hai?

“Even someone in hawai chappals should be able to fly in a hawai jahaz”: the vision behind UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), promising affordable air connectivity to underserved towns and cities across India.

923 routes have been awarded under the scheme since 2016-17. Only about 657 to 679 of them are actually operational, meaning somewhere between a quarter and a third of awarded routes never got off the ground. 15 UDAN airports remain non-operational entirely, with airlines citing weak passenger demand, aircraft shortages, and runway or infrastructure limitations.

“Turns out getting off the ground was the hard part, for about a third of these routes, literally.”