Residents of Ghaziabad and nearby places now have the option of flying direct to many parts of India from Hindon Airport. Air India Express on Saturday operated it first Kolkata-Hindon-Goa flight, making its 180-seater Boeing 737 MAX the biggest passenger aircraft to operate from this defence enclave. While inaugurating the service, Union aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu said, “One day, I hope to see Hindon to London flights.” The direct connectivity from western UP’s Hindon comes months before the upcoming Noida International Airport at Greater Noida’s Jewar becomes operational later this summer.

AI Express, which became the first big airline to operate from both the IGI Airport and Hindon, will start operating 40 weekly direct flights from Hindon to Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Jammu and Kolkata by March 22, 2025. For a few days this month starting March 10, the airline will also operate a thrice weekly Hindon-Mumbai flight. The airline sees the entire north/east Delhi NCR, western UP’s Ghaziabad, Meerut and Noida as key catchment areas.

Minister Naidu said: “With the addition of Hindon to its growing network, Air India Express is not only strengthening connectivity but also offering greater flexibility across the NCR. The launch of services from Hindon will complement existing operations at IGI Airport, reflecting Govt’s vision of expanding aviation infrastructure to meet the growing demand for air travel.”

Commercial operations from Hindon Bega just before Covid in October 2019 when a now defunct airline connected the airport to Pithoragarh. While smaller regional airlines have not been very successful so far in India, Hindon got stable operations when Star Air, the aviation arm of Sanjay Ghodawat group, started operating here. Star Air currently connects Hindon to Adampur, Nanded, Kishangarh, Pune and Bengaluru with its 76-seater Embraer E175 aircraft. AI Express’ 180-seater B737 is the biggest commercial airliner to operate so far from this defence enclave.

“Commercial operations to and from Hindon as of now happen from sunrise to sunset. The airport can handle one flight in an hour so the six flights AI Express will have from later this month have been staggered,” said sources.