Jaipur : Intra-state air service in the state has completely collapsed. No one is paying attention to the flights of small aircraft to small cities which were stopped six years ago. The state government had identified about eight air routes in the state to start intra-state air service, but now air service is not operated on any route. Between 2016 and 2018, a private company operated two 9-seater aircraft for 11 cities. 18 flights were operated daily. The decisions taken regarding financial support from the state government were not followed and these flights were stopped in 2018 itself. The previous Ashok Gehlot government also tried to run small aircraft by creating eight air routes, but no decision could be taken on this. Many cities of Rajasthan are not connected by air route from Jaipur itself. This is having the biggest impact on tourism.
Flights operated to two cities: Only one city of Rajasthan is connected under the Regional Connectivity Scheme. Air service is operated from two cities of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to Kishangarh in Ajmer. Kishangarh is connected by air service to Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Surat city of Gujarat. During the previous BJP government, Supreme Airlines operated flight services to 11 cities. This service was stopped in 2018. The fare of these aircraft was also fixed from two thousand rupees to four thousand rupees per passenger according to the distance of the cities.
The new BJP government of the state is again making efforts for the flights of small planes. Additional Chief Secretary of CM Shikhar Aggarwal, who is also ACS of Civil Aviation Department, has received proposals from some companies. Now the government has to decide whether to start flights under the Regional Connectivity Scheme or not.
Regional Connectivity Scheme was started in 2016
The Central Government implemented the Regional Connectivity Scheme in 2016. The objective of this scheme was to connect small cities with air services and provide people with low cost flight facilities. The Rajasthan government also signed an MoU. Under this, some concessions and facilities were to be given to airline companies. Small planes operated for two years, but the attitude of the officers did not allow this scheme to last long.
