The airport was primarily built to handle flights operating under the government'sregional 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.[7] The low-cost regional carrier,FlyBig, restarted flight operations in the airport toDehradun andLudhiana from 6 September 2023.[8][9]
In 2017, theMinistry of Civil Aviation pre-emptively took up the idea of acivil enclave at Hindon with the IAF[10] because slot constraints at theIndira Gandhi International Airport prevented the operation of flights under the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme calledUDAN.[11] The Hindon civil enclave would then become the second airport in theNational 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,[12] all UDAN operations would revert to Delhi Airport.[11]The Indian Air Force permitted the Civil Aviation ministry to use the air base for civil operations in August 2017.[13][14]AAI began construction of the terminal in August 2018.[15] Prime MinisterNarendra Modi inaugurated the passenger terminal built at a cost of₹ 40 crores on 8 March 2019 just before model code of conduct.[16]
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.[17]The first commercial flight from the Hindon took off on 11 October 2019. ABeechcraft King Air, operated by Heritage Aviation under the UDAN scheme, took off forPithoragarh Airport with nine passengers on board.[18]In May 2019, it was reported that the state government and AAI were considering making the airport permanent.[19]
The Hindon civil enclave was built on 7.5 acres at Sikandarpur village in Sahibabad, adjacent to the existingIndian Airforce airbase.[20] The terminal was developed by AAI while the Uttar Pradesh government built the connecting roads and provides electricity for the project.[15] Air traffic control is provided by theIndian Air Force.[21][12]
The terminal building is a pre-engineered, air-conditioned structure with eight check-in counters. The passenger 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.[22]
Anand Vihar Swami Vivekanand ISBT: 9 km southwest of Hindon Airport, reachable by Red Line metro, serves destinations in Uttar Pradesh. It is next to the Anand Vihar RRTS metro.
Sarai Kale Khan ISBT: 21 km southwest of Hindon Airport, reachable by Delhi-Meerut RRTS via Anand Vihar RRTS station, serves destinations inSouth Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and eastern Rajasthan.
Gokulpuri-Hindon Airport-Arthala Pink Line Extension: In September 2024, as part of the Phase-V theDMRC proposed extending the Pink Line 13 km fromTrans-Yamuna North-East Delhi (existing Gokulpuri metro station of Red Line metro) to the west Ghaziabad (existingArthala metro station of Red Line metro) via Hindon Airport connecting 2 existing Red Line metro stations with 10 new Pink Line stations namely Gol Chakkar, DLF, Shalimar Garden, Hindon Airport, Bhopura, Tulsi Niketan, Rajendra Nagar, New Karhaira Colony, Karhaira, and Loni Road Industrial Area.[28]
Railways connect Delhi with the whole India and to the neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.
Located Southwest:
Delhi Shahdara Junction railway station is the nearest major railway junction 8 km southwest of the Hindon Airport. Delhi Shahdara Junction railway station is also connected to the adjacentShahdara metro station of Red Line only 1 station west of Dilshad Garden metro station.
Delhi Junction railway station (Old Delhi Railway station): 18 km southwest of Hindon airport, closest to the Kashmiri Gate ISBT.
Nearest major civilian airports within the same NCR catchment area are as follows:
IGI Delhi (IATA: DEL): 33 km southwest reachable via metro (Dilshad Garden to Kashmiri Gate ISBT by Red Line, Kashmiri Gate ISBT to New Delhi by Yellow Line, New Delhi to IGI by Orange Line - total 1 hour), RRTS, rail, bus or taxi.
Hindon Airport's growth is significantly limited by poor last-mile as well as long-distance connectivity. The lack of a co-located centralisedmultimodal transport hub with the integrated long distance bus terminal (ISBT), direct suburban metro and long-distance rail, etc hinders passengers. They struggle to find direct transport to places like Ghaziabad railway station, face unreliable and expensive cabs, and often rely on inconvenient e-rickshaws and auto rickshaws. Despite the nearby presence of Delhi Metro and Namo Bharat stations, the absence of direct extensions of these rail lines to Hindon Airport continues to be a problem, a situation worsened by the heavy traffic congestion on Wazirabad road. Moreover, the lack of essential direct bus and rail connections to IGI Delhi Airport, as well as the alternative airports in theNCR Plan, namely Noida and Hisar airports, further compounds the connectivity problems.[29]
Hindon civil terminal is facing severe infrastructural limitations with growing passenger traffic due to the lack of aircraft parking bays (currently only two, which has led to flight diversions and cancellations during technical issues or inclement weather), the terminal building constraints (designed for 300 passengers per hour is now handling around 430), night landing is disallowed by IAF due to the security issues.[30]
2025 Jul: The state government is negotiating with IAF and AAI for allowing night landing, acquisition of 8 acres additional land for expansion of civilian terminal and for building additional parking bays and operational slots.[30]
Delhi Metro lines
