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| Nashik Airport Terminal. Source:Wikipedia |
The year 2017 has proved to be great for flyers in the state of Maharashtra, as new destinations got direct flights to Mumbai!
Air India Regional began services to Shirdi in October, while TruJet connected Nanded to Mumbai in November. With the announcement of Air Deccan's flights to Nashik, Pune and Jalgaon from Mumbai (that will begin on 23 December), the total number of airports in the state with scheduled commercial services will go up to Eight.
This year, the Government of India announced 45 new air routes awarded to airlines under the first round of its Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) for civil aviation, also known as UDAN – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik, seeking to make flying more affordable.
Under UDAN, the operators would be extended viability gap funding (VGF) in which 80 percent of the subsidy will be provided by the Central government and the remaining by the State Government. Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said that on each flight, 50% of the seats would have a cap of Rs 2,500 per seat/hour. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said the scheme provides for various benefits including no airport charges and three-year exclusivity on the routes.
Under this RCS, Hyderabad based Turbo-Megha Airways (parent company of TruJet Airlines) were awarded the Mumbai - Nanded route. They also connect Nanded with Hyderabad. The services began in November 2017 with ATR-72 aircraft.
Bengaluru based Air Deccan, promoted by Capt. Gopinath, will operate under RCS on the Mumbai- Nashik- Pune and Mumbai - Jalgaon routes in Maharashtra and will also link Mumbai with Kolhapur and Solapur in the future. Deccan Charters announced commencement of services on 23rd December 2017.
Air India Regional began services to Shirdi in Ahmednagar district after it was inaugurated on October 1st. Their ATR-72 connects Shirdi to Mumbai and Hyderabad.
