The first UDAN Yatri Cafe, to provide quality food and water at affordable prices, is launched at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
The Government of India has launched ‘UDAN Yatri Cafe’ to provide essentials like food and water at affordable rates in airports of India. The first “UDAN Yatri Cafe” was launched at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, West Bengal.
This was announced in the posts on X today on 27 December 2024, by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India, and the Airports Authority of India.
And as per the 2024 Year End Review by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and their aforementioned post on X, this UDAN Yatri café offers a variety of budget-friendly items, including tea at ₹10 and single samosas at ₹20, water bottle at ₹10 (size or volume not mentioned), coffee at ₹20, and a sweet of the day at ₹20.
On the 100th anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), the first UDAN Yatri Cafe was launched. It is an initiative by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), which aims to bring affordable and quality food options to enhance the travel experience for everyone.
As you'd already know how expensive food is at the airports, this kind of an initiative is certainly appreciable if they provide quality essentials like food and water at affordable prices, thus making things better for the average air travellers; which is an aim of the UDAN scheme in the first place.
UDAN means "Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik", which essentially means "the common citizen of the country flies", which aims to make air travel affordable for the masses. Based on the success of this UDAN Yatri Cafe, it may then be opened at other airports across India too. As Yatri means traveller, the name essentially means Traveller Café or Traveller's Café.
UDAN, or "Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik", is a Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) which was launched 8 years ago in October 21, 2016, which is led by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), and it aims to enhance regional air connectivity from unserved and underserved airports across India, making air travel affordable for the masses.
As per the MoCA's report on UDAN, it has helped in fuelling the growth of aviation industry, in promoting tourism, and in boosting air connectivity in India.
For example, as per the report, in addition to offering last-mile connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, UDAN has introduced tourism routes connecting several destinations in the Northeast region (such as, Pasighat, Ziro, Hollongi, and Tezu) and also to destinations in other regions across India (such as, Khajuraho, Deoghar, Amritsar, and Kishangarh near Ajmer; and Agatti Island of Lakshadweep), and is also focused on expanding helicopter services in hilly areas to stimulate tourism, hospitality, and local economic growth.