New Delhi: On the outskirts of Azamgarh in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a gleaming new terminal stands waiting. The airport, inaugurated with much fanfare in 2024 under the government’s UDAN scheme, was meant to connect this small town to Lucknow and Delhi. But months later, the runway lies silent. The check-in counters have never seen a boarding pass, and the only people inside are security guards scrolling through their phones.
For the locals, the airport has become less a gateway to opportunity and more a reminder of a promise that never took flight. This is how India’s regional airports are turning out—more by form than by function. The UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, launched in 2016 as part of India’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), was designed to transform the country’s aviation landscape by linking smaller towns with major cities and making air travel affordable for the common citizen.
But years after its high-profile rollout, the data tells a different story. “The biggest issue is whether a proper study of the catchment area was done before making these airports operational,” said C K Govil, former president of The Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI). “Are people living there willing—and financially able—to undertake air travel? Even under the UDAN scheme, the ticket prices may still be unaffordable for many. That’s one of the main reasons why several airports were inaugurated with much fanfare but never really took off.” What he identifies is a common thread: infrastructure built, ribbon cut—but demand, connectivity, and commercial viability are often missing.
“Many of these airports don’t have adequate terminals or runways… Basic facilities like night navigation systems are missing. Then there’s the issue of low passenger footfall, which makes operations economically unviable for airlines,” said Vandana Singh, chairperson of the Aviation Cargo Federation of Aviation Industry in India (FAII).
A significant number of regional airports remain non-operational, plagued by poor planning, lack of demand, and coordination gaps between state agencies and airlines — raising hard questions about the viability of the country’s aviation expansion model.
Launched in October 2016 under the National Civil Aviation Policy, the UDAN scheme promised to connect underserved and unserved airports across India. At launch, the vision was bold: aircraft flying from smaller towns, subsidised fares, lasers on smaller jets opening up new routes. By March 2025, official data shows that the number of operational airports in India had grown from 74 in 2014 to about 160. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) notes that as of October 10, 2025, some 93 aerodromes were operationalised under UDAN, and 649 routes had been inaugurated. However, studies and audits suggest that many airports remain underutilised, or that routes once inaugurated have been discontinued.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as of October 2024, 601 routes and 71 airports had been operationalised under UDAN, facilitating over 1.44 crore passengers across more than 2.8 lakh flights. Separately, by early 2025, reports list 625 routes across approximately 88 unserved and underserved airports. But a key evaluation found that about 52% of awarded routes never even began operations, and only 7% of routes remained operational beyond three years.
Under UDAN, the numbers initially looked promising. The scheme envisioned connecting unserved and underserved airports, offering subsidised ticketing, incentives for airlines, and infrastructure upgrade support. Pilot shortages, absence of suitable aircraft (e.g., 40- or 60-seat jets), low occupancy, and poor ground‐connectivity are a list of obstacles. “There also needs to be greater passenger awareness. Many people don’t even know that some of these regional airports exist. Look at how well Ayodhya International Airport has been marketed — we need to promote the others similarly,” Singh said. By one account, as of April 2024, 85 airports had been operationalised under the scheme, comprising 65 unserved and 20 underserved. Yet a closer look shows these figures mask large caveats. An article in The Print noted that 16 airports built under UDAN were unused, the highest numbers in Gujarat and Punjab.
Across India, several regional airports stand ready but remain grounded for reasons ranging from poor infrastructure to low passenger demand. In Tripura, for instance, the Kailashahar Airport—first built during World War II and shut down in the 1990s—was earmarked for revival under the UDAN scheme in 2018. Yet, the airstrip’s short 1,000-metre runway and lack of airline interest have kept it non-operational. In Bihar, the Muzaffarpur Airport project, originally conceived years ago and revived with new tenders in 2025, has seen repeated delays. Construction is still underway, with flights now expected in 2026. Similarly, Deesa Airport in Gujarat, which has existed as a small airstrip since the early 2000s, continues to await commercial flights.
