Deccan winds up Mumbai-Nasik service

No-frills carrier Air Deccan has wound up its Mumbai-Nasik service due to poor response, airlines sources said on Wednesday.

The service was started on March 27, 2005 with 47-seat aircraft operating from Ojhar airstrip, about 21 km from here, to Mumbai. It was discontinued from July 21, the sources said.

Working in association with the Hindustan Auronautics Limited (HAL) facility in Ojhar, the Maharashtra Economic Development Corporation had spent Rs 2.5 crore to make available night landing facilities at local air strip.

The flight took 40 minutes to ferry passengers between Mumbai and Ojhar, from where passengers had to travel for half an hour by road to reach Nasik. In Mumbai they had to take some road transport or local trains from Santa Cruz airport to reach their destinations in the city, sources said.

"People find the road and rail services between Nasik and Mumbai more convenient to reach their destinations," a source said.

According to police, security staff, including four police officers, deployed at Ojhar airstrip were withdrawn following the discontinuation of the Air Deccan service.

Earlier, four other air service operators had started services between Mumbai and Ojhar but failed to continue them due to poor response, the sources said.