IndiGo Takes Off from Hindon Airport

On July 20,2025, IndiGo officially inaugurated its commercial operations from Hindon Civil Terminal in Ghaziabad, marking a landmark expansion under India’s UDAN scheme aimed at enhancing regional air connectivity. This initiative positions IndiGo as the second carrier—after Air India Express—to use Hindon, reducing the load on the main Delhi airport and bringing flights closer to residents of eastern Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, and western Uttar Pradesh.

Indigo Airlines New Routes & Frequency

The Union Budget for 2025-26 has proposed an enhanced version of the UDAN scheme, aiming to connect 120 new destinations and transport an additional 40 million passengers over the next decade. Minister Naidu highlighted that Hindon’s success will serve as a blueprint for expanding air connectivity in smaller cities, fostering economic growth and tourism.

At the inauguration, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu praised the UDAN scheme for transforming Hindon into a regional aviation hub:

“This is an UDAN success for Hindon, Ghaziabad, western Uttar?Pradesh, and the entire country. … Hindon will serve as an example.” 

Minister Kinjarapu emphasized that traffic has surged from 8,000 annual flyers in 2019 to over 80,000 today, and forecast that the dual-runway network of IGI and Hindon will collectively uplift the NCR aviation ecosystem.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers added that the airline aims to "enhance point-to-point travel" for local residents, highlighting the convenience of having flights closer to home

UDAN Scheme & Long-Term Vision

IndiGo’s launch is part of the UDAN 2.0 initiative, which targets 120 underserved airports by 2035, with ambitions to carry 400 million regional passengers in the next decade 

India’s domestic aviation sector has doubled in scale over the past decade—fleet size, airports, terminals, and passenger volume are all up—a trend ministers say is continuing, particularly in tier-II/III cities