Kerala's UDAN Scheme Fails to Deliver: Critical Air Connectivity Gaps Persist
Despite the Union government's recent revamp of the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) regional connectivity scheme, the initiative has so far brought minimal benefits to the state of Kerala. A glaring issue is the inadequate air connectivity between key cities, particularly on the popular Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur and Kozhikode routes.
Severe Shortage of Direct Flights
Currently, there is only one direct flight operating between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur. The majority of the limited flights available are routed via Kochi and Bengaluru, resulting in significantly extended layover times. The situation is even more dire for the Kozhikode route, which lacks any direct flights altogether. Most services to Kozhikode are connected through Bengaluru, causing total travel times—including layovers—to range from a cumbersome 3 hours to an excessive 12 hours.
Fares on the Kozhikode route are notably higher, indicating that demand likely surpasses that for Kannur. However, this increased demand has not translated into improved flight availability.
Lack of Political and Industry Attention
Frequent travelers and travel agents report that the critical issue of inadequate flights is not being adequately discussed in various forums. Even political parties have failed to raise this concern publicly. Airlines themselves appear hesitant to introduce more direct flights between Kannur, Kozhikode, and the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram.
This reluctance severely impacts business travel and emergency travel needs. An official explained that airlines are concerned about consistent patronage and prefer to combine these routes with flights to other cities to ensure profitability.
Economic and Tourism Implications
The official further noted that demand for seats peaks during summer holidays and long weekends. Airlines find it more profitable to focus on metro routes where flights operate at full capacity and where they already have established ground staff and maintenance crews.
Thomas Mathai of Riya Travels emphasized that these routes experience very high demand. The few available trains are consistently fully booked, and the potential for high-end tourism remains untapped due to the lack of reliable air connectivity. While Vande Bharat trains have boosted tourist visits to Kannur and Kasaragod, air travel gaps continue to hinder broader tourism development.
Proposed Solutions for Sustainable Connectivity
M K Ajit Kumar of the India Tourism Forum proposed several actionable solutions:
- Establish a dedicated Thiruvananthapuram-Kozhikode-Kannur domestic corridor under the UDAN scheme, with at least one to two daily flights on each sector.
- Implement viability gap funding (VGF) and concession tariffs to help airlines sustain these routes even with minimal initial patronage.
- Kerala Tourism and private tour operators should create packages where tourists arrive in Thiruvananthapuram and depart from Kochi, developing circuits like Thiruvananthapuram-Alappuzha-Wayanad-Kannur to generate demand and make routes viable for airlines.
Kumar also highlighted that the state already has 48 new seaplane routes approved under UDAN. Positioning seaplanes or helicopters on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kumbalam-Kochi-Kozhikode-Kannur sector could help decongest roads and create premium tourism products for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
Potential Benefits of Improved Air Links
Enhanced air connectivity could dramatically reduce travel times. For instance, increasing flights between Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kannur would cut travel time from 10-12 hours by road to approximately 1.5 hours by air. This improvement would make it feasible to combine south, central, and north Kerala tourism circuits into a single, seamless trip.
With better air links, business-cum-leisure (BLE) and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourists could fly into Thiruvananthapuram and then easily travel to Kozhikode and Kannur for conferences or team-building activities. This would position Kerala as an all-weather MICE destination, unlocking significant economic and tourism potential currently constrained by poor air connectivity.
