The snowy peaks of Kargil will now just be a flight away thanks to the Regional Connectivity Scheme (or RCS) that aims to make air travel accessible to the masses. As part of the scheme, popularly known as UDAN (or Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), the Ministry of Civil Aviation awarded as many as 325 routes to 15 airlines and helicopter services. Thanks to the scheme, you can soon book cheap flights to Kargil.
This is the second phase of UDAN, which covers distant towns such as Darbhanga in Bihar, Pakyong in Sikkim, Cooch Behar in West Bengal, Jorhat in Assam and Almora in Uttarakhand to larger cities. These are among the 73 unserved or undeserved airports and helipads located across 19 states that will be connected to the 36 existing ones.
Among the major domestic airlines that have been granted rights to the routes are SpiceJet, IndiGo, Jet Airways and Alliance Air, which is a subsidiary of Air India among others.
UDAN caps the airfare for an hour’s journey of 500 km on a plane and a 30-minute helicopter ride at ₹2500 and awarded 128 new routes in March 2017 as part of its first phase.
Even though it has a military air base, there are no commercial flights that fly to Kargil currently. The nearest major airport to Kargil is Srinagar (204 km), which is connected to major cities in the country. At the moment, you have to travel from Srinagar to Kargil by road. While buses do connect the capital of Jammu and Kashmir to the town made legendary thanks to eponymous battle of ’99, you can also book a private taxi. It takes anywhere north of five-and-a-half hours depending on the condition of the roads to reach Kargil from Srinagar.
To Read the News in Full 25/01/18 Vrutika Shah/GQ
This is the second phase of UDAN, which covers distant towns such as Darbhanga in Bihar, Pakyong in Sikkim, Cooch Behar in West Bengal, Jorhat in Assam and Almora in Uttarakhand to larger cities. These are among the 73 unserved or undeserved airports and helipads located across 19 states that will be connected to the 36 existing ones.
Among the major domestic airlines that have been granted rights to the routes are SpiceJet, IndiGo, Jet Airways and Alliance Air, which is a subsidiary of Air India among others.
UDAN caps the airfare for an hour’s journey of 500 km on a plane and a 30-minute helicopter ride at ₹2500 and awarded 128 new routes in March 2017 as part of its first phase.
Even though it has a military air base, there are no commercial flights that fly to Kargil currently. The nearest major airport to Kargil is Srinagar (204 km), which is connected to major cities in the country. At the moment, you have to travel from Srinagar to Kargil by road. While buses do connect the capital of Jammu and Kashmir to the town made legendary thanks to eponymous battle of ’99, you can also book a private taxi. It takes anywhere north of five-and-a-half hours depending on the condition of the roads to reach Kargil from Srinagar.
To Read the News in Full 25/01/18 Vrutika Shah/GQ
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