Commercial flights from Gondia stop operations

Nagpur: The two commercial airlines that operated from the Birsi airport at Gondia, also hometown and constituency of former civil aviation minister Praful Patel, have stopped operations till further notice. Sources say that costlier ATF has started taking toll on the connectivity to smaller centres like Gondia.The airlines have already written to the govt expressing concern over high ATF prices. More such closures throughout the country cannot be ruled out, said an aviation official.Gondia airport had one flight each operated by IndiGo Airlines and Star Air, connecting the town with Hyderabad and Indore, respectively. Both the carriers have cited ‘operational' reasons for withdrawal. Source said the flights ran full. A decision to start flights is only expected in the next schedule. The Gondia airport started in 2009 and mainly catered to National Flight Training Institute (NFTI), a joint venture between Canada's CAE Inc and AAI. Commercial flights only began in 2023. The AAI now plans to write an open letter to the airlines inviting them to start operations from Gondia. "We have a 2,600-metre runway, night landing facility, instrument landing systems and other facilities at Gondia," said an official.In Vidarbha, both Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and AAI runs airports. MADC-run airport at Amravati has a single flight to Mumbai. Mihan India Limited, a joint venture between AAI and MADC, operates Nagpur airport.