Government implements Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDGs) to achieve better connectivity of air transport services of different regions of the country

Government implements Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDGs) to achieve better connectivity of air transport services of different regions of the country

The Government of India with a view to achieve better connectivity of air transport services of different regions of the country is implementing the Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDGs). Routes have been classified into categories, namely, Category- I, II, II-A and III under RDGs. The criteria for routes classified under Category- I, are: –

A flying distance of more than 700 km, Average seat factor of more than 70% and Annual traffic of 5 lakh passengers over two full schedules i.e. summer and winter schedule.

Further, there are twenty routes connecting cities directly under the Category-I. These routes are Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Bangalore, Mumbai-Chennai, Hyderabad-Delhi, Bangalore-Kolkata, Bangalore-Pune, Delhi-Patna, Mumbai-Cochin, Mumbai-Chandigarh, Mumbai-Lucknow, Bangalore-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Chennai, Mumbai-Kolkata, Chennai-Kolkata, Ahmedabad-Delhi, Mumbai-Jaipur, Delhi-Pune, Delhi-Goa and Chennai-Pune.

Routes connecting stations in North-Eastern Region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands are classified as Category-II. All scheduled operators are required to deploy in Category-II routes at least 10% of their deployed capacity on Category-I routes.

Routes within the North-Eastern Region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands and Cochin-Agatti-Cochin are classified as Category- IIA. All operator(s) are required to deploy at least 1% in Category- IIA routes of the capacity, deployed on Category- I route.

Routes other than those mentioned in Category- I, II and II-A are classified as Category-III. All operator(s) are required to deploy at least 35% in Category- III routes of the capacity, deployed on Category-I routes.;

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shri Murlidhar Mohol in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.