New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS): India has till date operationalised 381 air routes under the regional connectivity scheme 'Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' or RCS-Udan.

The scheme was launched in 2016. Under it, airlines are provided with a 'Viability Gap Funding' to keep fares affordable and accessible.

"To date, 381 routes and 61 airports including 5 heliports and 2 'Water Aerodromes' have been operationalised under the Udan scheme," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Saturday.

The announcement comes on the day when Sindhudurg Airport also known as Chipi Airport in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra was inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, under the Udan scheme.

Consequently, the inauguration marked the commencement of the 61st airport under the scheme and successful operationalisation of the 381 routes under Udan.

"Now people can fly at ease by opting for a flight of 85 minutes from Sindhudurg to Mumbai while earlier they were forced to opt for a road or train travel of more than 10 hours between these two cities."

Accordingly, Alliance Air was awarded the Sindhudurg-Mumbai route under the Udan 3.1.

"The financial incentives in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is being provided from the Centre, State governments and airport operators to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and underserved airports under the scheme."