Ghaziabad: Limited parking bays raise concern for Hindon Airport authorities

An expansion plan for the civil terminal is currently being considered at the highest levels within the AAI

Flight operations at the civil terminal near the Hindon air base in Sikandarpur were affected last week after both aircraft parking bays were occupied due to technical issues and inclement weather, prompting suspensions and diversions of incoming flights, according to officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Hindon Airport caters to about 25 cities and handles around 50 flights daily, AAI officials said. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The terminal, which operates under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme and shares a runway with the Indian Air Force’s Hindon airbase, currently has only two dedicated parking bays for civil aircraft. Each bay can hold one large aircraft at a time, AAI officials said.

“In case there is some technical issue with any of the aircraft or the flights cannot take off due to adverse weather, etc., the parking bays remain full till the time of repair or waiting. In such a case, the parking bays cannot cater further to incoming aircraft. So, this creates a ripple effect for the incoming flights, and they have to be diverted or suspended,” said an AAI officer familiar with the issue.

The Hindon civil terminal caters to about 25 cities and handles around 50 flights daily, AAI officials said. “Every hour, we are catering to about 2–3 flights,” said Umesh Yadav, director of the civil airport, adding that the issue of inadequate parking is under discussion between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Defence.

“The talks between the two ministries are about the issue. Last week, this issue was experienced, and flights to two routes were either diverted or suspended. The airlines are also planning to reduce or minimise the technical issues and also coordinate for better rotation of aircraft. They are also holding meetings with the concerned authorities in this regard. We are already improving on constraints,” Yadav added.

An expansion plan for the civil terminal is currently being considered at the highest levels within the AAI. According to officials, the plan includes enhancement of internal and external facilities, such as additional parking bays, movement areas, and other infrastructure upgrades.

“The incorporation of additional flights, which may commence in the future, entirely depends on slot allocation. If slots are available, we can cater to additional flights,” Yadav said.

In response, Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg, who also serves as the chairperson of the Airport Coordination Committee, has raised concern over last week’s flight disruptions. In a letter dated July 29 addressed to senior officials of the AAI, Garg noted that several flights were either suspended or delayed, causing inconvenience to passengers.

“If the parking issue is truly stemming from limited infrastructure, then I urge you to consider temporarily reducing the number of scheduled flights so that the remaining services can operate smoothly,” the MP wrote in the letter, a copy of which was shared by his office.

The terminal, which began operations in October 2019, serves passengers from Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Delhi, and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh. It offers connectivity to cities including Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Jammu, Varanasi, Patna, Ahmedabad, Indore, Adampur, Nanded, Kishangarh, Ludhiana, and Bathinda.