A flight route becomes useful when a traveller can rely on finding it in the timetable. UDAN’s first services in April 2017 brought that possibility to places the regional-connectivity programme sought to serve. Its more difficult task was to make the services last.
The scheme had been launched in October 2016. It combined airline bidding with public support intended to make routes from unserved and underserved airports viable. The first flight followed on 27 April 2017, marking the transition from a policy to an operating service. [1]
Public money helped bridge the gap
Airlines assessed routes and submitted bids. Selected services could receive viability-gap funding, alongside concessions involving airport operators and central and state governments. The underlying bargain was to support access where commercial service might otherwise be difficult to establish. [2]
That support produced flying, not just applications. In July 2026, the Civil Aviation Ministry reported more than 1.66 crore passenger journeys and 669 routes operationalised under the scheme. These cumulative figures show substantial use. They do not mean that 669 routes were all still flying on the date of the announcement, or that the passenger total represents that many different people. [4]
A current route count needs a current operating list. The cumulative series used here cannot supply one, and no live-route total is inferred from it.
The audit followed routes past their inauguration
The CAG’s 2023 audit examined the first three bidding rounds. Of 774 awarded routes, 371 had commenced operations; 112 had completed the three-year concession period. Of those 112, only 54 were continuing beyond that period as of March 2023. [3]
The sequence matters. An award is an agreement to provide a service. Commencement means flights started. Completing the supported period and surviving beyond it are further milestones. Reporting only the largest number obscures those successive tests.
The audit figures are historical and limited to the early rounds. They should not be used as today’s survival rate for the entire programme. They do establish that durable connectivity was a material weakness requiring attention, even as passenger traffic grew.
A regional flight depends on several parties continuing to perform: the airline must supply an aircraft and crew, the airport must remain usable, passengers must find the service worthwhile, and any public support must operate as intended. A problem in one part can remove the whole connection.
UDAN’s expansion of actual flying deserves to be recorded. For each route, the stronger story comes after the inauguration: how regularly it operates, how long it survives and whether it remains a practical option for the people it was created to serve.