With the visionary initiatives of the Government of India, the domestic aviation industry has today emerged as the world’s third largest flying ecosystem earmarked with inclusivity, uniformity and accessibility. The flagship schemes of the government such as UDAN have propelled this overarching success for India in the aviation sector. With such prime policies air travel in India has been catered to all sections and all regions, beyond the elite sections of the society.
Indian airports today handle more than five lakh passengers everyday. This was facilitated by rapid infrastructure development, connectivity expansion etc. This accelerated growth in the domestic aviation sector of India in the past decade was specifically facilitated by the flagship scheme called UDAN that stands for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik. In 2014, the number of airports in India was 74. By 2025, this has been spiked to 163. Under the UDAN scheme 649 new air routes have been carved out or the defunct routes have been re-energized which is connecting 93 airports across the country.
This facilitation of unprecedented connectivity and accessibility has led to the remarkable spike in the domestic aviation passenger traffic that has crossed the 5 lakh mark in 2024. Nearly 12 greenfield airports have been operationalized since 2014. Thus, UDAN, as a regional air connectivity scheme today benefits more than 1.5 crore passengers by making air travel accessible and affordable. It also helps to bridge the gap between the metro cities and tier 2 or tier 3 cities in terms of air travel. In the latest development, to further enhance accessibility, uniformity, transparency and affordability in the domestic aviation sector, Director General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation has asserted the following guidelines:
- 60 per cent of the seats in any flight has to be allotted without any additional charges or for free of cost to ensure fair access for the passengers
- Passengers travelling on the same PNR number has to be seated together, preferably in the adjacent seats
- If the passengers are carrying any sports equipment or musical instruments, the airlines should facilitate safe and hassle-free commutation for such passengers. The sensitive equipment should be transported in a transparent and passenger-friendly way subjected to operational guidelines and regulations.
- Airlines should bring out clear and transparent policies with respect to carrying pets in the airlines
- Strict adherence to passenger rights framework particularly under scenarios of delayed flight, cancellation of the flight or denial of boarding
- Prominent and visible display of passenger rights across airline websites, mobile applications, booking platforms and in the airline counters
- Clear communication of passenger entitlements in regional languages to ensure hassle-free travel, accessibility and enhance awareness about the air travel.
With these landmark guidelines, the DGCA and the Government of India, is aiming to revolutionise the domestic aviation sector of the country which will be embedded with inclusivity, enhanced connectivity, affordability and struggle-free air travel.
