Star Air (India) (S5, Belgaum) owner Ghodawat Enterprises has been okayed to launch scheduled passenger flights from Ghaziabad, a military airport near Delhi, PTI has reported. Operations are expected to begin by the end of June 2019.
"The Ministry of Defence has approved the proposal of Ghodawat Enterprises for operation of RCS (regional air connectivity scheme) flights from Hindon airport... These RCS flights are likely to commence by end of June this year," an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said.
The airport is currently owned and operated exclusively by the Indian Air Force (IFC, Delhi International). However, AAI has already developed a small-scale passenger terminal, which was opened already in March 2019. Hindon is expected to serve as a regional point-to-point airport serving the Delhi agglomeration. Delhi International is currently one of India's most congested gateways.
Under the Indian government-run support scheme UDAN/RCS, Star Air secured rights to connect Hindon with Jamnagar and Gulbarga. Other carriers which were selected for UDAN routes out of Hindon are Heritage Aviation (Delhi International) and Turbo Aviation (Hyderabad International).
