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Q.
Will UDAN's rapid airport rollout sustain regional air connectivity, not just launch it?
26 sec read
What happened
India's number of operational airports has grown from 74 in 2014 to 165 by July 2026, with 95 airports, heliports, and water aerodromes connected through 679 routes under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme. Rapidly opening new routes is one achievement; keeping them commercially viable over time, particularly on thinner routes to smaller towns, is a separate and historically harder challenge for regional aviation schemes globally.
What the evidence says
✓
Operational airports grew from 74 in 2014 to 165 by July 2026, with 679 routes connected under the UDAN scheme.
What's unclear
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Whether UDAN routes remain commercially sustainable long-term depends on passenger demand growth in the smaller towns being connected.
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