Nikita Vashisht Moneycontrol News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 8 inaugurated civil operations at the Hindon airport at Ghaziabad in Delhi-NCR.
The civil terminal, built at an approximate cost of Rs 40 crore, will support the growing passenger traffic at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport by accommodating at least 300 passengers at a time.
The airport was taken over by the ministry of Civil Aviation to carry civil operations till new terminals are built at the IGI Airport. Various regional flights to places like Pithoragarh, Jaisalmer, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj (Allahbad), Hubli, Gulbarga, Nashik, Shimla, Jamnagar, Faizabad and Kannur will fly out of Hindon under the government's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN.
"Our government is dedicated to develop next gen infrastructure in the country to support and fulfil the aspirations of middle class people," Modi said.
According to senior aviation ministry officials, the defence ministry has given permission to carry out civil operation at the airport by assigning different entry and exit route from the base.
"They have protected their core operational area and have given access to the base in order to provide ready infrastructure to carry out flying operations by airlines… We will develop our own infrastructure simultaneously," a senior official said.
Senior government officials told Moneycontrol that IndiGo and Heritage will operate flights from the airport from May.
The civil terminal, which will have rainwater harvesting system and double insulated roofing system among other features will be guarded by Uttar Pradesh backed armed forces.
UDAN, or Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik scheme, caps fares at Rs 2,500 for every one hour flight and connects metro cities to tier II and III cities.
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