Air India Express has once again announced flights to Hindon, raising eyebrows as the airline continues its rapid expansion. The latest announcement comes amid a series of route plans that have not materialized, raising concerns over the airline’s execution of its ambitious network growth strategy.
The low-cost subsidiary of Air India has been aggressively expanding its operations in recent months, adding new destinations and increasing frequencies on several key routes. However, not all of its plans have gone as scheduled. Earlier, the airline announced flights from Mangalore to Singapore, but those never took off. A similar fate befell its planned flights to Dhaka, despite the fact that parent airline Air India and other carriers continued to operate on the route. While the Dhaka cancellation was attributed to the political situation in Bangladesh, industry observers questioned the airline’s inability to proceed when others were flying without interruption.
Hindon, located in Ghaziabad, serves as an alternative airport for Delhi and has primarily been used for regional flights under the government’s UDAN scheme. Air India Express’ decision to reintroduce Hindon into its network suggests a renewed effort to tap into the potential of the airport, which has remained underutilized despite being positioned as a secondary hub for the National Capital Region.
The airline has not yet provided clarity on when flights to Hindon will begin or whether this announcement will translate into actual operations. Given past instances where proposed routes were quietly shelved, passengers and aviation analysts will be closely watching whether Air India Express follows through on its latest promise or if this will be another case of a plan that never takes off.
