Sanjib, Port Blair: In execution of the Visionary decision of Govt. of India to enhance regional connectivity, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) released the National Aviation Policy (NACP) in 2016. One of the objectives of NCAP-2016 was to ‘Enhance Regional Connectivity through fiscal support and development. The program is to be executed via the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.
Towards progress of the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) was signed at Port Blair on 28th July 2022 for the UDAN Scheme to utilize existing Naval Airfields at Shibpur and Campbell Bay.
The Commanding Officers of INS Baaz, (Campbell Bay) and INS Kohassa (Shibpur) under HQ Andaman and Nicobar Command represented MoD, while the AAI side was represented by Airport Director, Veer Savarkar International (VSI) airport. The signing of the MoU will pave the way for the commencement of UDAN services of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and vastly improve ‘Regional Connectivity’ between the airports of Port Blair, Shibpur, and Campbell Bay, thereby benefiting the local populace immensely. This will give a major boost to tourism and facilitate further infrastructure developments in the Islands.