Civilian flight services from Hindon Airport to 8 destinations to start from May

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the civilian enclave terminal built by the Airports Authority of India at Hindon airbase on March 8. Civilian flight operations under the Ude Desh ke Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme from the airbase will start from May. The UDAN connectivity scheme seeks to connect the farthest corners of the country through flights at an affordable cost.  

Starting May, the Hindon Airport will have flights to eight destinations, including Shimla and Kannur. A senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) said, "The airports likely to be connected to Hindon from May onwards are Gulbarga, Nashik, Hubali, Shimla, Pithoragarh, Jamnagar, Kannur and Faizabad by IndiGo and some small airlines. Flights should begin in the first or second week of May. We informed airlines that had won routes from Hindon under regional air connectivity scheme that the airport will be ready by March 10 and they have indicated the timeframe for beginning flights after arranging for aircraft, pilots and getting all clearances."

Regional connectivity flights will also see an increase in number from Hindon gradually. Apart from the eight mentioned, other routes awarded from the airbase include Lucknow-Hindon-Gorakhpur-Allahabad, Hindon-Allahabad-Kolkata, Ozar (Nashik)-Hindon and Tirupati-Hubli-Hindon, as mentioned in a report in Times of India. According to the daily most of these new flights will be operated by IndiGo and a couple of new, small players.

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The Hindon Airport will be able to handle aircraft that carries fewer than 80 passengers. The nearby Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport that does not have capacity for more RCS flights and hence Hindon will handle these flights till IGI's expansion work is done. Work on a fourth runway and a bigger terminal 1 will be completed in the next three to four years.

The Hindon Airport civil terminal that the Prime Minister will inaugurate on Friday has been made on a cost of Rs 45.2 crore. The terminal is air-conditioned and has been built on a pre-engineered structure across an area of 3,500 sq m. The terminal can handle a peak capacity of 300 passengers per hour. Air traffic control for the regional flights will be provided by the IAF ATC at Hindon. 

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