After morning rains and dense fog engulfing Shimla, Himachal Pradesh’s state capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday gave wings to the town by flagging off the country’s first low cost flight, under the Centre’s – UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) at Jubbarhatti airport in the outskirts of Shimla. Speaking at the event, he said, "There was a lack of aviation policy in India in spite of being a large country. We now have the opportunity to create an aviation policy." "The lives of the middle class are being transformed and their aspirations are increasing. Given the right chance they can do wonders," PM Modi said. "Earlier aviation was considered to be the domain of a select few. That has changed now." Read: All you need to know about the UDAN scheme Modi is slated to address party’s ‘Parivartan Rally’ at famous Ridge Maidan in the heart of the town in the state which will be going to be polls by the year end. This is first public function after the BJP won the MCD polls in the capital. Significantly, it’s more than four and half year, after lone private airline operator, Kingfisher, stopped flying to Shimla, an erstwhile summer capital of the British India. It is now back on the country's map for daily low-cost regional connectivity bringing cheers to the tourism industry ahead of summer rush. Simultaneously, the Prime Minister also flagged off the inaugural UDAN flights on Kadapa–Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad sectors through a video-link. On each flight, 50 per cent of the seats would have a cap of Rs 2,500 per seat/hour as new scheme unfolded by the NDA government. The Shimla flight to Delhi under the UDAN will cost Rs 1,920 for 50 per cent of the seats in 35-seat ATR-42 of the Alliance Air while rest of the seats will be sold on flexi rates, which may cost anywhere between Rs 5000 to 15,000, said Managing Director HPTDC Dinesh Malhotra. Union Health Minister J P Nadda, two union ministers for civil aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Jayant Sinha, and former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prem Kumar Dhumal were also present at the function. The airport at Jubbarhatti, which is 22 kms from Shimla and is located 2,196 meters above sea level, has been shut for scheduled flights since September 6, 2012, because of soil erosion leading to shrinking of the runway. Under the scheme, five airlines will operate on 128 routes connecting 70 airports, including 31 unserved and 12 under-served ones. The operators are Air India's subsidiary Airline Allied Services, SpiceJet, Air Deccan, Air Odisha and Turbo Megha. They would be operating 19-78 seater aircraft. These flights would connect airports spread across over 20 states and union territories including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
