New Delhi: Turbo Megha Airways has become the first private airline to get a licence to fly under UDAN, the government scheme for subsidized regional flights.

The Hyderabad-based airline, which flies as TruJet, last month said it will launch flights on Hyderabad-Cuddapah, Hyderabad-Nanded and Nanded-Mumbai routes.

A spokesman for Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the aviation regulator on Wednesday issued the first air operator certificate in the scheduled commuter category to Turbo Megha Airways.

“Earlier, being scheduled regional, they could not operate to metros of other regions. Under SCO (scheduled commuter operator) category, they can operate to metros of other regions."

TruJet is one of the five operators who have been awarded a total of 128 routes under the UDAN scheme. The airline will use three ATR-72 aircraft, and will add more planes later.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first flight under the scheme on the Shimla-Delhi route on 27 April. The flight will be operated by Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India.

Under the scheme, fares have been capped at Rs2,500 for a one-hour flight. The government has also extended subsidy in the form of viability gap funding to the operators flying on these routes.

The five airlines awarded the rights to fly UDAN flights are Air India, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha, Air Odisha and G.R. Gopinath led Deccan Air.

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