Kingfisher to start Mumbai-Nashik-Bangalore hopping service

Kingfisher Airlines will start a hopping Mumbai–Nashik–Bangalore flight sometime within the next 15 days. The service will meet long standing demands of local citizens as well as industry.

Nashik has two airstrips, one belonging to the Combat Army Aviation Training School, located at Gandhinagar, and the other at Ojhar belonging to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

The Gandhinagar airstrip is much closer to the city centre, located in the suburb Nashik Road, while the Ojhar airstrip is 17km away from the city.

The city has been served by two airlines in the past, with State-owned carrier, Vayudoot, operating a service 20 years ago. Low cost carrier, Air Deccan, also operated a service three years ago. These services folded up for a number of reasons, including distance of the airport from the city as well as the timing of the flights.

While Air Deccan operated its flights from Ojhar, the demand really was for a flight from Gandhinagar. Apart from the distance, even the timing of the Mumbai flight in the afternoon was not suitable.

Lack of an air service to and from Nashik has been a major hurdle in the fast growth of the city with industries shifting their focus away from the city citing lack of air connectivity as one of the reasons.