Kolkata, Feb 18: Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India and a part of the Tata Group, is all set to connect Kolkata with the Hindon airport in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, an airline spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The flight between the two places services will commence from March 1.
The Kolkata to Hindon flight will operate daily, while the Hindon to Kolkata flights will operate six days a week except Saturdays, the spokesperson said.
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The flights will take off at 7.10 am from Kolkata and reach Hindon at 9.30 am daily, while the return flights will leave Hindon airport at 5.20 pm and reach the eastern metropolis at 7.40 pm.
The spokesperson also claimed that AI Express will be the first airline to operate out of Hindon airport with a jet engine airliner and Kolkata will be the first place to be connected with the big plane.
According to sources, small airlines operate on short routes from Hindon currently.
With this expansion, Air India Express will operate from two airports in the National Capital Region (NCR) – Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and Hindon Airport in Ghaziabad, he said.
Hindon Airport is expected to provide a convenient alternative for travellers from Central and Eastern Delhi, Noida, and nearby areas such as Akshardham, Anand Vihar, Parliament Street and Central Secretariat, Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Indirapuram, Karol Bagh, Vaishali and surrounding regions, the airline spokesperson said.
The flights between Kolkata and Hindon were supposed to commence from August 2024 but were postponed.
“We connect to 14 direct destinations from Kolkata including Hindon. Some of the key destinations are Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Guwahati and Hyderabad,” the spokesperson said.
Besides connecting with Kolkata, the airline also has plans to connect Goa and Bengaluru to Hindon with six daily flights from each of these destinations.
For those flying in from Bengaluru, Goa, and Kolkata, Hindon Airport ensures quicker access to key areas in the National Capital Region.
It also makes air travel more accessible to a broader population, particularly aspiring travellers from western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, including cities such as Bareilly, Bijnor, Dehradun, Haridwar, Hapur, Meerut, Moradabad, Mussoorie, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur, and Saharanpur, an airline statement said.
Meanwhile, sources said that the airline is planning to fly to Kathmandu and Dhaka from Kolkata from the summer schedule this year.
Air traffic control in Hindon is being provided by the Indian Air Force. The Civil Enclave Hindon has been developed and managed by AAI and also caters to the needs of VIP and non-scheduled flight movement.
Civil enclave means the area allotted to an airport belonging to any armed force for use by persons availing of any air transport services. (PTI)
