The Opposition on Tuesday in Lok Sabha sought to punch holes in the Government's regional connectivity scheme UDAN claiming that less than 50 per cent routes awarded under the marquee initiative were operational and only a fraction were functioning without subsidy.
BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy who is also a commercial pilot urged for the need to develop 30-40 greenfield airports in the country to cater to the requirement of ever increasing number of air passengers.
Participating in the discussion on demands for grants for the Civil Aviation Ministry, he said that upgrading existing airports and using defence enclaves for civil aviation "is not the future." Former Civil Aviation Minister Rudy said the capacity of existing airports or brown field airports cannot be increased beyond a point even after incurring huge expenditure. Similarly, the airports at defence enclaves cannot be upgraded as air force planes do not need CAT-3 or night landing facilities which are essential for operating large civilian aircraft. He asked the government to expedite development of a new airport at Patna and focus on "developing 25, 30 or 40 greenfield airports in the country."
Rudy said that the first revolution in the civilian aviation sector was started by the father of current Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Madhavrao Scindia who opened the sector by allowing private airlines.
Initiating a discussion in Lok Sabha, Congress member Ravneet Singh Bittu said only 405 routes out of the 948 awarded by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) since October 2016 were operational as on December 2021. Bittu also voiced concern over the budgetary cuts for Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB).
"In wake of recent air crash in China, I would urge minister to seek greater allocations for three divisions at revised estimate stage," said Bittu, a Lok Sabha member from Ludhiana. Trinamool member Mahua Moitra also questioned the lower allocation for the UDAN scheme. She demanded that the civil aviation ministry be scrapped and merged to create a holistic ministry for transport as it was no longer in the business of running a national airline.
DMK member S R Parthiban wondered how the UDAN scheme would succeed when private airline operators were looking for profitable routes. Bittu also flagged concerns about double night shifts for pilots, claiming that it resulted in fatigue and could have serious consequences.
He accused the civil aviation regulator DGCA of being "hand-in-glove" with airline companies, contending that little attention was being paid to the welfare of pilots.
BJP member Mahesh Sharma criticised the previous Congress Governments for taking over Air India from Tata Sons in 1953 and later pushing the airline into heavy debts by ordering 111 aircraft. He lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the initiative for the sale of Air India.