HC summons civil aviation secretary virtually over Shimla’s exclusion from air-connectivity scheme

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh high court has summoned the secretary of the Union ministry of civil aviation to explain through videoconferencing why Himachal Pradesh had been given "step-motherly treatment" by the apparent denial of air connectivity benefits to Shimla airport under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), also known as Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (Udan).A division bench comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi issued the directions while hearing a public interest litigation highlighting inadequate air connectivity in the hill state. As the deputy solicitor general of India requested that the secretary may be permitted to join the proceedings through videoconferencing, the bench emphasised it only highlighted the fact that it is very difficult for a senior bureaucrat from New Delhi to come to Shimla without the benefit of air connectivity. The court permitted the secretary to appear via videoconferencing and posted the matter for May 6, noting the urgency as Alliance Air has agreed in-principle to resume operations from May.The court underscored the hardships faced by residents, who have to undertake an arduous eight-hour road journey to Delhi via Chandigarh, and stressed the importance of air connectivity for a heavily tourism-dependent state. "It is bounden duty as such also of the Union of India to provide adequate connectivity to the people who wish to visit the hill state...," underlined the bench.The division bench examined an affidavit filed by the Union ministry of civil aviation, which stated that the Centre allocated Rs 116.7 crore for the development of Shimla airport and Rs 37.3 crore for Kullu airport under Udan. However, the affidavit did not specify the amount spent on Kangra airport, though it noted that Kangra is connected to Delhi and Chandigarh with around 50 weekly flights operated by IndiGo and SpiceJet. Kullu airport, it said, has 16 weekly flights connecting it to Dehradun, Delhi and Jaipur through Alliance Air.The affidavit acknowledged that Shimla had no scheduled flights, as Alliance Air suspended operations due to aircraft shortages, though services might resume subject to availability. It was stated that these airports were suitable only for smaller aircraft such as ATR-42, ATR-72 and Q400, and that airlines operated on routes based on commercial viability.In contrast, the affidavit filed by the state govt's special secretary (tourism and civil aviation) emphasised that Shimla remained the only state capital in the country not connected under Udan. It also pointed out that the modified Udan scheme announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 excluded Shimla, with no routes allocated for Delhi-Shimla or Shimla-Dharamshala sectors. The state govt added its limited financial capacity made it difficult to sustain viability gap funding for long, although it had already provided Rs 32.6 crore as viability gap fund under an MoU signed with Alliance Air on April 5 this year.