15 UDAN airports shut due to low passenger loads, operational hurdles: Govt

Fifteen airports developed under the Centre’s flagship regional air connectivity scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), are currently temporarily non-operational, the government informed Parliament on Monday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that while 651 routes have been operationalised under UDAN connecting 93 unserved and underserved airports, including 15 heliports and two water aerodromes, several airports have had to pause services due to a range of issues.

The airports currently without flights include Pathankot, Pakyong, Kushinagar, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Shravasti, Moradabad, Bhavnagar, Ambikapur, Rourkela, Ludhiana, Datia, Kalaburagi and Shimla.

According to the minister, operations were suspended for reasons such as:

• Completion of the three-year Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support period

• Poor visibility at airports operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR)

• Daytime runway closures

• Aircraft shortages or leasing complications

• Temporary discontinuation by airlines

• Transfer (novation) of contracts to new operators

• Low passenger load factors, making routes commercially unviable

In a separate reply, the minister highlighted that 11 airports inaugurated in the last five years across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar have struggled to sustain scheduled services.

Airports inaugurated include Kushinagar (2021), Deoghar (2022), Kanpur and Ayodhya (2023), Aligarh, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Moradabad, Shravasti, Sarsawa (2024) and Purnea (2025).

Of these, only Deoghar (Jharkhand), Kanpur and Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), and Purnea (Bihar) currently have scheduled flight operations.

“The rest of the airports do not have scheduled flight operations as on date,” Mohol stated.

The UDAN scheme, launched in 2016, aims to boost regional connectivity by subsidising air routes and making air travel affordable. However, the latest data underscores the persistent commercial and operational challenges confronting smaller airports and regional airlines across India.

With inputs from PTI