Regional flights to 4 cities including Kannur and Hubli from Hindon airbase expected by October end

The Union civil aviation ministry has listed four regional flight routes to Hubli, Kannur, Ozar (Nashik) and Pithoragarh, from Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad, under a central government scheme.

If all goes well, passengers to Kannur in Kerala, Hubli in Karnataka, Nashik in Maharashtra and Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand will have a direct air link from Ghaziabad by October-end.

The Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad has been selected for operating regional flights under the regional connectivity scheme of the Union civil aviation ministry. (Sakib Ali/ HT File)

Officials of the Ghaziabad district administration are hopeful that the regional flights from the Hindon airbase can start from October this year. The airbase has been selected for operation of regional flights under the regional connectivity scheme of the Union ministry of civil aviation. The scheme will provide relief to the overburdened Delhi airport.

Ghaziabad district magistrate Ritu Maheshwari has been nominated as the nodal officer for taking decisions on lease agreement with farmers and other infrastructure facilities, which are to be developed as part of the project. She said a draft of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been finalised and sent to the state government.

“The MoU is to be signed between the UP government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which will develop the terminal facilities under the project. The infrastructure facilities such as connecting road and electricity supply will be provided by the UP agencies. Once the MoU is signed, we will pay the lease rates to farmers under an agreement,” Maheshwari said.

“Once the formalities are completed, the AAI can start construction activities. The state government has already given its clearance for the project and land lease rates have already been approved by the state government and the AAI,” she said.

She said the road infrastructure will be built on leased land and the proposal will be taken up in the next UP cabinet meeting for clearance.

Meanwhile, the ministry of civil aviation also tweeted the list of routes from UP through on their Twitter handle, @MoCA_GoI, on Wednesday.

Various cities of the state, including Allahabad, Lucknow, Agra, Bareilly and also Hindon, will be operating regional flights to 42 different cities. The Ministry has listed four regional flight routes to Hubli, Kannur, Ozar (Nashik) and Pithoragarh, from Hindon in Ghaziabad, under the Udan scheme of the Central government.

It is proposed under the scheme that 7.5 acres will be required for the development of terminal facilities at Sikandarpur village in Sahibabad, adjacent the airbase.

The land needed for the RCS project will be for entry/exit and waiting facilities for the passengers while only the runway of the airbase will be used for the purpose of flight operations. The UP government and the AAI have already finalised the land lease rates at Rs 200 per square metre to be given to farmers.