In a bid to enhance regional connectivity in the country, the civil aviation ministry is expected to develop 50 low-priced airports across the country in collaboration with state governments.
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“We have been consulting all the chief ministers and majority have ensured support for the regional connectivity scheme. This agreement is the first step to convert that wish-list into a work-list and then a reality”, Raju said.
“The MoU aims to facilitate regional air connectivity by making it affordable by enacting different concessions offered by Centre, the state government and the operators”, said Fadnavis. Maharashtra becomes the first state to ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the state government, ground operations management (GoM), civil aviation ministry and the AAI for refurbishing and restarting a number of non-operational airports.
Dubai will likely be the first beneficiary of the government’s renewal of talks to enhance global bilateral air traffic rights, aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said Tuesday.
These include Shirdi, Nashik, Amravati, Gondia, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nanded, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, a Maharashtra government official said. “I have written addressing this to Chief Ministers of all the states”, he said. The MoU draft also states that the state government will provide the essential land free of cost.
Under the RCS, the Centre will subsidise 80 per cent of the cost, while the states will meet the rest under the viability gap fund (VGF) envisaged. Apparently, the heartedly welcomed light hand holders to get benefits from new airports may have wings for the ambitious project of regional connectivity.
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In order to ensure that the airlines operating on regional routes are economically viable, “there will be a lot of hair cut all around in the areas of taxation, and services”, Raju said. “Don’t want to be flightless bird forever”, he said.
