Mumbai - Nasik flight gets HAL nod

According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has given approval for commencement of commercial flights from Mumbai to Nashik and the service operated by Kingfisher Airlines is expected to start by month-end. “We have given approval to operate the flight from our Ojhar airport near Nashik and the first flight may take off around October 25," informed Prakash V Deshmukh, Managing Director, HAL.

The aircraft to be operated will be an ATR-42 type capable of carrying around 40 passengers, Deshmukh said, adding that he was holding talks with a senior Kingfisher official today to follow up the issue with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in Delhi. Ojhar airport is restricted for Indian Air Force (IAF) activity and is occasionally used for VIP flights. “We are also following up with Kingfisher to divert their recently introduced Mumbai-Nanded-Latur flight via Nashik so that more passengers can be accommodated. The Mumbai-Nashik flight will be around 45 minutes,” added Deshmukh who recently took charge as Managing Director of HAL's MiG Complex (Nasik and Koraput divisions). HAL is building new parking lots for aircraft and would charge users as per DGCA rates, Deshmukh told PTI. This includes private airlines as well as low cost airlines in India.