The subsidised regional connectivity rolled out by the government with the name of UDAN seeks to connect the unserved or underserved airports of India with various routes to tier I and tier II cities. As part of UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) the government is also building a civil aviation enclave called the Hindon air base near Delhi from which planes up to 80-seater will be able to take off. The Hindon air base would connect Delhi via small flights to cities like Kannur, Pithorgarh, Jaisalmer, Gorakhpur, Allahabad and Hubli. As per the words of a civil aviation official, the enclave which is being built by Aviation Authority of India (AAI) will be ready by March this year.
Hindon Air Base to Handle RCS Traffic Under UDAN
The officials also informed that the Hindon air base will be able to handle flights which carry 80 or less passengers. The traffic of these flights will be transferred to the Hindon air base because IGI currently has no slots and it cannot handle RCS flights which carry up to 80 passengers. It is also worth noting that the fare for RCS flights has been capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying for a certain number of seats. The Hindon air base will handle this traffic until IGI’s expansion plan is under progress. To recall, IGI just got done with a new revamped terminal 2, whereas the work for a bigger terminal 1 is under progress. The airport will also have a fourth runway in the coming years.
AAI to Invest Rs 45.2 Crore to Develop Hindon Enclave
As per the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the first flights from Hindon will be operated by big low-cost carriers and will be under the banner of UDAN-II RCS. Notably, the AAI has put aside Rs 45.2 crore for the construction of this new civil aviation enclave and the Hindon air base will be built in an area of 3,500 square metres. The government has also recently awarded 235 new routes under UDAN out of which 18 are seaplane routes. The new scheme seeks to serve 16 unserved airports and six water aerodromes.