Beyond Runways: The Next Chapter For Tier-2 And Tier-3 Aviation

Updated: Jul 17, 2026 16:20 pm IST Published On Jul 17, 2026 16:20 pm IST Last Updated On Jul 17, 2026 16:20 pm IST

Published On Jul 17, 2026 16:20 pm IST

Last Updated On Jul 17, 2026 16:20 pm IST

India's domestic aviation market is now the world's third largest. Airlines have ordered more than 1,500 aircraft. The number of airports has more than doubled since 2014, from 74 to 159. By the usual scorecard, this is a remarkable success.

Look closer at what those assets actually do, and the story becomes more nuanced. Of the 669 routes launched under UDAN, the flagship scheme to connect smaller cities by air, only about half are still flying. An audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General found that once the subsidy supporting a route ends, about one in ten routes continues on its own.

The easy explanation is that India's regional aviation market simply is not ready. But almost everything else moving between tier-2 and tier-3 cities is booming. Trains run close to capacity. Highways carry more traffic than planners expected. Business travel by road and rail continues to rise.

The challenge, then, is not simply demand. It is that an airport is only one layer of the aviation stack, and the next phase of growth depends on getting two other layers right: what a route is designed around, and what kind of aircraft flies it.

The government's recently revamped UDAN policy, often referred to as UDAN 2.0, acknowledges some of this by placing greater emphasis on airport viability, economic........

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