In a further boost to regional air connectivity in India, a new route was flagged off on March 13th. India’s regional carrier flybig commenced daily flights on the Indore-Gondia-Hyderabad route under the government’s UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme. This also marks the first time that the city of Gondia in the state of Maharashtra has been connected with other cities with a scheduled commercial flight.

New route

A new route by flybig will now connect cities across three Indian states – Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Gondia in Maharashtra, and Hyderabad in Telangana. The carrier was awarded the route under the UDAN RCS-4.0 bidding process, and the inaugural event was attended by Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, along with some other politicians.

Speaking at the occasion, Scindia said,

“Today, we have connected Madhya Pradesh with Maharashtra and Hyderabad. Apart from big cities, Indore needs to be connected with other smaller cities. Indore and Gondia share old relationships and it is our responsibility to bring these cities closer. So, this is the beginning.”

flybig will deploy its 78-seater ATR aircraft to Birsi Airport located at Birsi Village, around 12 km northeast of Gondia. To equip the airport for commercial operations, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) invested ₹21 crore (approx. $3.5 million) in re-carpeting the runway. The airline will operate the new route to the following schedule:

SN

From

To

Frequency

Departure

Arrival

1

Hyderabad

Gondia

Daily

0620

0815

2

Gondia

Indore

Daily

0835

1000

3

Indore

Gondia

Daily

1020

1145

4

Gondia

Hyderabad

Daily

1205

1350

UDAN scheme

The aviation scheme is a Government of India initiative launched in 2016 to connect small towns through subsidized air routes and develop regional airports. The UDAN scheme has planned to develop 100 new airports, heliports, and water aerodromes between 2019 and 2024.

So far, more than 750 valid routes have been allotted to shortlisted airlines after four rounds of bidding, and the latest flybig route is the 409th made operational under the initiative.

For the development of airports, the Airports Authority of India has designated funds of around ₹ 25,000 crores (approx. $3.3 billion) for a period of five years from 2019 to 2024. Funding for such projects is mainly provided through various central, state, and airport concessions.

To boost regional flights, the scheme also calls for air caps from ₹1,420 to ₹3,500 for fixed-wing aircraft (based on distance and duration) for flights to unserved and underserved routes. Such fare caps are subsidized by imposing a small levy on every departure on major routes.

FlyBig_Aircraft_landed_at_Raipur_Airport_dec_2020
The carrier operates two ATR aircraft. Photo: VishnuN via Wikimedia Commons

About flybig

The regional carrier is a new player in the Indian aviation sector, starting operations last year in January. The airline received its flying permit in December 2021 and operated its first official route from its base in Indore to Ahmedabad on a nine-year-old ATR aircraft.

According to ch-aviation, the carrier has two ATR airplanes in its fleet – ATR72-500 and ATR 72-600 – and, together with the latest route, serves 11 destinations, including many in North East India.

Have you ever flown flybig? What was your experience like? Do share your thoughts in the comment section below.