NASIK, India, 27 March 2005 — After several bureaucratic bottlenecks, decks have finally been cleared for the long-awaited air service between Bombay and Nasik.
The first inaugural flight between the two cities will operate today from Bombay. Air Deccan the private airline carrier will introduce a daily flight during morning hours. Bookings for the flights opened last Thursday, with inaugural airfare of 999 rupees.
A spokesman for Air Deccan said that some security related problems had delayed the operation of flights between the two cities since last October. Only after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had conducted two detailed surveys and enlisted its requirements, security requirements were curtailed and clearance granted last week.
The local police, the spokesman said, had raised objections to the new arrangements demanding a foolproof system, but these objections were later overruled by senior police officers.
Flights between the two cities were earlier operated by Indian Airlines till 1989 and Vayudoot till 1992, but were discontinued due to operational problems. Efforts by private air operators later failed to bring Nahik on the air map again, despite the city having two airports.
The resumption of flights is going to benefit the business community and people from various sectors who had repeatedly been demanding an air service between the two cities.
