Hindon Airport

Hindon Airport, also spelled Hindan Airport, is a commercial domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, operated by the Airports Authority of India at Hindan Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force. It is the second commercial airport serving the National Capital Region after Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

The airport was primarily built to handle flights operating under the government's regional connectivity scheme, hence reducing the burden of regional flights from Delhi's main airport. In 2019, there were two airlines operating regional flights from the airport, but on 23 January 2023, both of them stopped services, resulting in the closure of the airport. The low-cost regional carrier, FlyBig, restarted flight operations in the airport to Dehradun and Ludhiana from 6 September 2023.

History
In 2017, the Ministry of Civil Aviation pre-emptively took up the idea of a civil enclave at Hindon with the IAF because slot constraints at the Indira Gandhi International Airport prevented the operation of flights under the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme called UDAN. The Hindon civil enclave would then become the second airport in the National Capital Region for flights operating under UDAN. Commercial flight operations from an airport within 150 km of Delhi Airport were not allowed, according to an agreement signed between the government and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). Hence, the MoCA made a proposal, seeking clearance from DIAL for the temporary use of Hindon for flights awarded UDAN flights. DIAL approved the proposal in September 2017. When DIAL's on-going expansion of Delhi Airport is completed around September 2022, all UDAN operations would revert to Delhi Airport. The Indian Air Force permitted the Civil Aviation ministry to use the air base for civil operations in August 2017. AAI began construction of the terminal in August 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the passenger terminal built at a cost of ₹ 40 crores on 8 March 2019 just before model code of conduct.

The operations from Hindon were expected to begin from 15 March. However, discussions on slot timings with the Indian Air Force regarding slots took longer than expected and the date for commencement of flight operations was pushed back to the first half of October 2019. The first commercial flight from the Hindon took off on 11 October 2019. A Beechcraft King Air, operated by Heritage Aviation under the UDAN scheme, took off for Pithoragarh Airport with nine passengers on board. In May 2019, it was reported that the state government and AAI were considering making the airport permanent.

Structure
The enclave was built on 7.5 acres at Sikandarpur village in Sahibabad, adjacent to the airbase. The terminal building is a pre-engineered, air-conditioned structure with eight check-in counters. The terminal covers an area of 5,425 square metres and has a capacity of serving 300 passengers an hour. The car park can accommodate 90 cars. Air traffic control will be provided by the Indian Air Force. The terminal was developed by AAI while the Uttar Pradesh government built the connecting roads and provides electricity for the project.

Access
The closest metro stations are Dilshad Garden and Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar Metro Station (Red Line), 5 km away from the airport. Gokulpuri Metro Station situated on the Pink Line is also located close to the airport.