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Nagpur: Good news for Nagpur’s frequent flyers and business travellers! They would soon be able to catch Air India’s first flights starting from Nagpur to various destinations, which have been so far coming from other airports. Air India is planning to park its aircraft for the night at Nagpur airport. It will begin from May starting with two aircraft, said the PSU’s chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Ashwani Lohani. Air India will be the first to avail the night parking facility at Nagpur.
Considering government’s policy to boost regional air connectivity, Air India, which also in the process of buying 10 ATR aircraft, plans to use the planes on such sectors. New acquisitions will take its fleet of ATRs to 18. Talks are also on with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for procuring Dorniers, said Lohani.
Air India may connect three or four centres from east to west through a single service. There are plans, though at very initial stage, to have regional hubs for the regional services. There can be a hub for Central India too but it is too early to comment on location, Lohani said. It could be anywhere in the centrally located cities like Nagpur, Raipur or Bhopal, said Lohani. The regional flights will connect smaller cities where there are unutilized or underutilized airports, he said.
