The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Government of Maharashtra will sign a Memorandum of Understanding for activating the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) at Ratnagiri airport on Tuesday, along with the opening of Chipi airport in Sindhudurg.
The new terminal building and works at Chipi airport will be inaugurated by Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu. It will be the State’s 14th airport.
UDAN, which commenced in April 2017, is a regional airport development and regional connectivity scheme, aimed at making air travel affordable. The MoCA has sanctioned over ₹1,200 crore for airport infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, and Nashik, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nanded, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Amravati and Gondia are the selected airports.
Chipi airport has been built at a cost of about ₹520 crore. The newly-constructed terminal building has a capacity to handle 400 passengers per hour with an annual passenger capacity of about 10 lakh.
Under UDAN, in case seats remain vacant, the MoCA and the respective State will offer subsidy in the form of Value Gap Funding to the airline company to compensate for the loss. As part of this scheme, no other airline is allowed to operate on that particular route, thus protecting the operator’s business interests.
“At least 80% of VGF in tickets is shared by the Centre, and the State bears the remaining 20%. So far, Maharashtra government has paid over ₹5 crore as VGF to airlines,” officials said.
According to government officials, the airport will improve connectivity to areas of north Karnataka, western Maharashtra and Goa. “It will also boost tourism and economic development of the region,” the official said.