The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has given approval for commencement of commercial flights from Mumbai to Nashik and the service, operated by Kingfisher airlines, is expected to start by the month-end, a top HAL official said.

"We have given approval to operate the flight from our Ojhar airport near Nashik and the first flight may take off around October 25", HAL Managing Director Prakash V Deshmukh told PTI.

The aircraft to be operated would be an ATR-42 type capable of carrying around 40 passengers, Deshmukh said, adding he was holding talks with a senior Kingfisher official on Monday for following up the issue with DGCA in Delhi.

The Ojhar airport is restricted for Indian Air Force activity and is occasionally used for VIP flights.

"We are also following up with Kingfisher to divert their recently introduced Mumbai-Nanded-Latur flight via Nashik so that more passengers could be accommodated", Deshmukh said.

The Mumbai-Nashik flight would be around 45 minutes, Deshmukh, who recently took charge as MD of HALs MiG Complex (Nasik and Koraput divisions), said. 

HAL is building new parking lots for aircraft and would charge users as per DGCA rates, Deshmukh said.

• Click here to search for lowest airfares!