Expanding Indian regional carrier Star Air is about to significantly expand its network after being awarded 40 new routes under the country’s UDAN scheme.
Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik, Hindi for “Let the common citizens of the country fly” (UDAN), is an Indian government scheme to significantly increase domestic connectivity, particularly linking unserved or underserved regional airports with major hubs.
One of the targets of India’s civil aviation ministry is that is that taking a flight should be cheaper than taking a taxi. In India a taxi typically costs Rs.10 ($0.12) per km. Taking a taxi for an—admittedly unlikely—500 km (311 mi.) trip would cost Rs.5,000 ($61).
Under UDAN, at least half the seats in a flight linking two airports in the scheme should cost no more than Rs.2,500—or Rs.5 per km, half the cost of a taxi.
To serve its new routes, Bengaluru-based Star Air is moving into crossover jets, having begun operations with the first of two Embraer E175s in May. It already operates five ERJ145s.
As part of its network expansion, Star Air will create seven or eight new stations. These will act as hubs, facilitating connections. Among the first new routes will be from Hindon, just outside Delhi, to Nanded in central India, and to Adampur, near the northern border with Pakistan.
Star Air began commercial operations in 2019 and currently flies from two operational bases, Bengaluru and Belagavi, to 18 destinations across India.
