Airlines have discontinued 106 of 870 valid routes awarded under India's UDAN regional connectivity scheme within the first three years of operations. The Centre will now test whether a Rs 29,000 crore, decade-long expansion into West Bengal can convert that record.

Union civil aviation minister K. Rammohan Naidu said the government would develop airports at Charra in Purulia, Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur, Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur and Hasimara in Alipurduar over the next two years. The Centre has signed an implementation agreement with the West Bengal government.

What does the Rs 29,000 crore actually buy?

The headline figure obscures a sharper conversion problem. Of 870 valid routes awarded since UDAN's October 21, 2016 launch, only 579 began operations. Cumulative UDAN expenditure reached Rs 4,071 crore by August 2024.

UDAN's original political promise was explicit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the launch that "a common person who travelled in slippers should also be seen in an aircraft." The intent combined infrastructure delivery with fare accessibility, two objectives that have proved more difficult to maintain than to announce.

Can Cooch Behar and Malda explain why construction alone fails?

Cooch Behar airport illustrates the gap. IndiaOne Air began a nine-seater service on February 21, 2023, under a three-year UDAN contract. That service ended this year, leaving the airport without regular commercial flights.

The runway measures 1,059 metres, restricting operations to small aircraft. West Bengal has earmarked Rs 10 crore in this year's budget for expansion, a step that could permit larger equipment and restored connectivity, though only as an implementation objective.

Malda presents a different version. The state built a runway, and Airports Authority of India officials visited the site repeatedly, yet scheduled commercial flights never started. A small-aircraft service was promised; helicopter operations ran briefly before discontinuation.

What separates an awarded route from a flying one?

The causes split between supply and demand. SpiceJet holds awarded routes connecting Shivamogga with Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, but has not started service because of an aircraft shortage. Ayodhya saw carriers withdraw after traffic fell short.

Tamil Nadu reinforces the pattern. Five airports were identified under UDAN—Salem, Thanjavur, Ramanathapuram, Vellore and Neyveli—but only Salem operates scheduled flights. Pakyong in Sikkim was cited as another facility that failed to take off. The bottleneck sits at the airline layer, not the tarmac.

Will Kolkata's proposed second airport advance beyond land identification?

Naidu said the Centre wanted Kolkata to have a second airport to meet growing demand. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said Bengal had identified 2,000 acres at Kalyani for the new facility. The supplied material does not establish a project design, environmental clearance timetable, financing structure, or operating model.

Adhikari separately requested direct Kolkata-UK and other European services, plus expanded flights from Andal airport in Durgapur. No carriers, routes, or launch dates have been confirmed.

Which indicators will measure whether Bengal's plan works?

NITI Aayog has issued a call for proposals to evaluate UDAN's effectiveness and whether the scheme has improved regional connectivity at affordable fares. For Bengal, the central test is not runway delivery but route continuity after initial subsidy support and publicity fade.

The four announced sites will enter a network whose weakest point is not the absence of facilities but the absence of sustained flights. Whether Bengal's Rs 29,000 crore produces durable regional mobility or another cycle of grounded services will depend on airline operating decisions, fleet availability, and load factors that no construction milestone can guarantee.