Nashik: The airport in Nashik handled its highest air passenger traffic since it started operations in 2014, in the month of April this year.
The Nashik airport recorded a footfall of 36,100 flyers in April, said sources in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). This number exceeded the previous record set in March 2025, when 34,000 flyers used the HAL-managed airport.
This increase in passenger traffic is being attributed to improved air connectivity to more cities from Nashik airport. Moreover, the occupancy of all the flights was over 90%. The occupancy is usually 100% on the Nashik-Delhi and Nashik-Bengaluru routes.
Due to higher occupancy, a private airline started 232-seater Airbus A321 flights on Nashik-Delhi and Nashik-Bengaluru routes on March 30. Earlier, the private airline operated 180-seater Airbus A320 flights on these routes. Deploying a large Airbus on the Nashik-Delhi and Nashik-Bengaluru routes also led to a rise in passenger traffic in March, said the sources.
At present, a private airline operates flights from the Nashik airport to six destinations — Delhi, Goa, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Coimbatore via Indore. The private airline is also planning to start flights between Nashik and Kolkata in the next few months.
In the 2024-25 financial year, the Nashik airport recorded a footfall of 3.4 lakh passengers, up from 2.4 lakh passengers in the 2023-24 financial year.
Manish Rawal, the vice-president of Nashik Industries and Manufacturers Association (Nima), who is also the aviation committee chairman of the association, said the rising passenger footfall at the airport shows the potential the city has on various air routes.
The occupancy in all the flights is around 90% on average. Currently, the capacity of the airport terminal building is 300 passengers at a time. Considering the rise in passenger traffic at the airport and also considering the upcoming Simhastha Kumbh Mela, slated to be held between 2026 and 2028, govt needs to expand the Nashik airport terminal building and also the parking bays for aircraft.