Nashik airport set passenger footfall record in May this year, ET Infra
Advt
Advt
The Nashik airport, managed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, recorded its highest monthly air passenger traffic in May this year.The airport handled 37,509 passengers in May, marking the highest monthly footfall since operations commenced in 2014, HAL sources said. Previously, the highest air traffic was 36,082 passengers in April.The increase resulted from enhanced air connectivity with additional cities served by the Nashik airport. Additionally, flight occupancy exceeded 90 per cent, with most flights on the Nashik–Delhi and Nashik–Bengaluru routes reaching full capacity. These factors contributed to the rise in passenger footfall at the Nashik airport, according to sources at the airport authority.Passenger numbers at the Nashik airport steadily increased over the past year due to positive responses from air travellers. In January this year, the passenger footfall was 31,737, but it declined marginally to 31,669 in February.However, the airport recorded a rise every month from March onwards. In March, the airport handled 34,221 passengers, followed by 36,082 in April and 37,509 in May.Currently, a private airline operates flights from the Nashik airport to six destinations: Delhi, Goa, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Coimbatore via Indore. The airline also plans to start flights from Nashik to Kolkata in the coming months.Higher occupancy prompted the private airline to introduce 232-seater Airbus A321 flights on the Nashik–Delhi and Nashik–Bengaluru routes from March 30. Previously, the airline operated 180-seater Airbus A320 flights on these routes. Deploying larger Airbus aircraft on the Nashik–Delhi and Nashik–Bengaluru routes also increased passenger traffic in March at Nashik Airport, sources said.In the 2024–25 financial year, the Nashik airport is expected to handle 3.4 lakh passengers, compared to 2.4 lakh in the 2023–24 financial year.The total passenger footfall for 2022–23 was 1.07 lakh.Manish Rawal, the chairman of the aviation committee of the Nashik Industries and Manufacturers' Association (Nima), said the airport has significant potential for air service, as evidenced by the increasing passenger footfall. The average passenger footfall has exceeded 1,200. However, due to the rising number of passengers, expanding the Nashik airport is necessary.Ashish Nahar, the president of Nima, said passenger footfall will surge during the upcoming Simhastha Kumbh Mela , scheduled between 2026 and 2028."Currently, the airport's capacity is 300 passengers at a time. Considering the anticipated increase in passenger numbers during the Kumbh Mela, expanding the Nashik airport is essential. We are addressing the issue with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has assured the expansion of the Nashik airport before the Simhastha Kumbh Mela commences," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
Boeing faces headwinds from crashes and competition
Earlier this month, a London-bound Air India plane crashed soon after take off in Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard. This was one of the deadliest disasters involving a passenger aircraft in India in the last two decades. While this was the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to crash, data shows that this is the latest in a litany of problems that Boeing faces. Only weeks before the crash in Ahmedabad, Boeing had agreed to pay $1.1 billion in a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to avoid prosecution over two crashes — one in 2018 and the other in 2019 — involving 737 Max airliners. In total, 346 people died in these incidents. Lawyers of the victims of these crashes criticised the payout deal as 'morally repugnant'. Boeing's stock prices plummeted after the crash in Ahmedabad, but have recovered since. Data show that Boeing's stock prices had fallen steeply after other crashes as well. The change in Boeing's closing stock prices every day between 2016 and 2025. Boeing's stock prices have fallen steeply after crashes /incidents. For instance, in October 2018, when Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 MAX airliner, crashed killing 189 people, the company's stock fell sharply. On March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed minutes after take off. The company's stock dropped again — this time more steeply than what Boeing had ever seen. That incident claimed 157 lives. The company also suffered setbacks when its 787 variants were grounded by the U.S. after these accidents, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020-2021 period. Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) criticised Boeing's safety culture for the mid-air blowout of a 737 MAX 9 flight operated by Alaska Airlines in January 2024. It said that Boeing had failed to provide adequate training and oversight to prevent a mid-air cabin panel blowout. The NTSB is now working with India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau to extract data from the black box of the plane that crashed in Ahmedabad. In the ongoing investigation of the incident, no aircraft-related problems have been reported yet. According to data from the Aviation Safety Network, a high incidence of accidents, as well as a high number of fatalities, involved Boeing-manufactured aircraft between 2019 and 2024. The chart shows the share of fatalities in aviation accidents that occurred between 2019 and 2024, globally. In the last five years, 26.2% of all aviation accidents have involved a Boeing plane. This is much higher than the share of accidents involving other aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus whose revenues mimic those of Boeing. Also, close to 43% of all fatalities in aviation accidents between 2019 and 2024 involved a Boeing plane. The company is financially struggling now as investors and operators have gravitated towards companies such as Airbus. Fleet statistics from 2023, published by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, show that a majority of India's fleet was manufactured by Airbus. The chart shows the manufacturer-wise share of aircraft owned/leased by various Indian airlines as of 2023. Only 22% of the fleet were manufactured by Boeing. Only some Indian airlines such as SpiceJet and Akasa Air relied more on Boeing. Company reports from Airbus and Boeing show a huge difference in the number of aircraft delivered by the two dominant aircraft manufacturers, globally. The chart shows the number of aircraft delivered globally by Airbus and Boeing. Last year, Airbus delivered 766 aircraft, while Boeing delivered 348. The number of deliveries by Airbus has steadily grown since 2020 as opposed to Boeing's. Parliament data on orders placed by Indian airlines in 2023 and 2024 also suggest an increasing reliance on Airbus. The chart shows the number of orders placed by select Indian airlines to Airbus and Boeing in 2023 and 2024. In the last two years, IndiGo has placed 510 new orders with Airbus. Air India has placed 375 orders with Airbus and 220 with Boeing.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
Centre working on a plan to expand GCCs in tier II , III cities: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills The government is working on a framework to expand the presence of global capability centres (GCC) beyond the top cities and is focusing on industry-academia tie-ups to create industry-ready talent, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on said under the IndiaAI Mission, 6,000 more GPUs (graphics processing units) are expected to be added to the common compute facility, taking the total to 40,000 from 34,000 empanelled currently. These GPUs are sourced under the AI mission to provide subsidised compute power to local artificial intelligence incubation centre at IIT Madras Research Park and Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, where industry leaders like Airbus have helped tailor courses to industry needs, will serve as models to develop the GCC ecosystem, the minister said.'We should match the requirements of GCCs with particular universities,' Vaishnaw said. 'According to their requirements, we should integrate courses in the education system.'ET reported on May 28 that the ministry has set up an industry-led panel to help boost the growth of GCCs in India. The panel has representatives from Nasscom, Zinnov, ANSR, KPMG and Invest India among came after the budget announcement for a framework to promote GCCs in emerging cities, to outline measures for enhancing availability of talent and infrastructure, building bylaw reforms and mechanisms for collaboration with said the framework being developed will take the GCC ecosystem to the next level and help create minister was speaking at the signing of a memorandum of understanding here between the ministry-backed Digital India Corporation and the department of youth affairs to build out the next phase of the MY Bharat platform , which provides youth single-window access to learning and personal and career growth Bharat 2.0 will be AI-enabled, multilingual, and mobile-first for personalised engagement and integration with platforms like the National Career Service, Aadhaar and DigiLocker.'The MY Bharat platform today has 1.75 crore youth on it,' said Mansukh Mandaviya, union minister of youth affairs and sports."Through this mobile app, the youth will be able to engage with opportunities not just nation-wide but worldwide, along with various social activities and state governments," he are more than 1,700 GCCs in India employing roughly 1.5 million idea now is to create talent pipelines 'GCC by GCC', connecting them with institutes having the specific kind of expertise they need, and also enabling them to do original research work in India, said a person aware of the developments.'That mapping is now about to begin, so GCC by GCC, we understand what they need to bring them to our country,' the person said. 'For instance, if a GCC requires mechanical engineering talent, they may find it in Coimbatore where there is a very big ecosystem, a chemicals company may want to be near Gujarat, or a pharma company may want to be in Hyderabad.'Further, the government is mulling a model where states can be brought onto a common portal so that GCCs can get the permissions they need quickly, the person added.
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Time of India
Poll-bound state's supplementary budget: 57,509 cr
Mumbai: Just three months into the financial year, the cash-strapped Mahayuti govt which faces local body polls across the state, tabled supplementary budgetary demands worth a steep Rs 57,509 crore in the state legislative assembly on Monday. This will add to the financial strain of the state which not only faces its highest-ever debt projection at Rs 9.3 lakh crore but also its steepest revenue deficit at Rs 45,890 crore for 2025-26. Supplementary demands are additional funds sought by govt beyond allocations made in the budget tabled in March. The current demands account for 8.2% of the total expenditure projected in the state budget. In the coming year, the state faces rural and urban local body polls including to high profile municipal corporations like the BMC, which will see a prestige war between the govt and the Opposition. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai The demands raised are mainly aimed at urban and rural infrastructure projects like Metro, support for municipal bodies, road and irrigation schemes and the Simhastha Kumbh Mela. Also, allocations have been suggested for welfare schemes including the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Health Scheme, Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana, schemes for the elderly, payment for female anganwadi workers and scholarships for backward students. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Texas Introduces New Benefit for "Senior Drivers" Auto Savings Learn More Undo The urban development department which controls the state's 29 municipal corporations has been allocated the highest share in the demands at Rs 15,465 crore. The PWD department which has faced agitations from contractors over unpaid dues has been allocated Rs 9,068 crore. Other departments with large allocations include public health (Rs 6,952 crore), rural devt (Rs 4,733 crore) and social justice (Rs 3,799 crore). Last year, the state faced financial strain on account of pre-poll sops like the Ladki Bahin Yojana announced with an eye on the assembly polls. The sops were worth Rs 96,000 crore. In addition, the state introduced supplementary demands worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore after the budget. The Opposition has sharply criticised the supplementary demands. "The state budget had projected a revenue deficit of Rs 45,890 crore for this year. With the additional supplementary demands of Rs 57,509.7 crore, the total revenue deficit will rise above Rs 1 lakh crore. By the end of the year, it could rise beyond Rs 2 lakh crore. It shows the extent of financial mismanagement," said NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil. However, the finance department led by deputy CM Ajit Pawar said net burden of supplementary demands would be lower. Although gross supplementary demands are Rs 57,509 crore, net burden is Rs 40,644 crore, an official statement said.
