GHAZIABAD: Flight services from Hindon terminal have dropped to 12 a day from 20 earlier after two major carriers, Air India Express and
IndiGo, suspended operations to multiple cities from the terminal. Officials said services were curtailed due to cold weather conditions in Jan, but the routes were not restored since.
"Due to winter scheduling, which led to flight cancellations, the two major carriers scaled back services. AI and IndiGo have assured that flights will resume shortly once summer rescheduling begins," an official at the Hindon civil terminal said. The civil terminal operated flights to 16 cities until Dec.
Air India Express, which operated flights to Kolkata, Goa, Jaipur, Chennai, Patna, Varanasi, Mumbai, Bhubaneswar and Bengaluru routes, is now operating only on Mumbai, Bengaluru and Patna routes. IndiGo, on the other hand, is operating on the Varanasi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Patna, Ahmedabad and Mumbai routes, while the Indore, Kolkata and another Mumbai route remain suspended.
Star Air is also operating on just 2 routes—Nanded and Adampur—while service to Kishangarh remains suspended. FlyBig Airlines, on the other hand, stopped operating on the Bathinda and Ludhiana routes last year. The terminal, when launched in 2019, saw 8,000 footfalls per year, which has now increased to 80,000 per year. However, since the launch, flight services from the terminal were not only scarce but were also marred by frequent cancellations.
The entry of two major players—Air India Express and IndiGo—on metro routes raised hopes for the future of the terminal, but recent suspensions of flights on major routes again raised a question mark over the future of the terminal, which operates under IAF's dawn-to-dusk limitations.
Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) last month commenced work to expand the terminal's building to add more counters and expand the vehicle kerb area. Under the plan, the number of check-in and service counters is set to go up from nine to 12, while the vehicle kerb area outside the terminal would more than double, from the current 3.5 metres to eight metres.
Abhijay Jha is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India, coverin...
Read MoreAbhijay Jha is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India, covering civic and infrastructure beats for Ghaziabad city. His career spans over two decades, starting with television in various capacities such as reporting and as a researcher. In the last 11-years at TOI, he extensively covered politics, environment, crime, and court beats, with a keen interest in stories of human interest.
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