Nagpur Flying Club
Established in 1947, the club began as a private institution and soon became a training ground for aspiring aviators. Its operations grew substantially in the 1960s, with even Indian Air Force pilots using its facilities during periods of emergency and the 1962 China war. Nagpur: For nearly eight decades, Nagpur Flying Club (NFC) has mirrored the changing fortunes of Indian civil aviation — beginning as a private initiative of flying enthusiasts in the pre-Independence era, becoming a state-run institution, suffering prolonged closures and revivals, and now entering another defining phase with its proposed transfer to Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), as per its former members. After Independence, it expanded access to flying training, including subsidised programmes for NCC cadets and candidates from backward communities.
The club’s first major decline came after Maharashtra govt assumed complete control in 1990. Technical manpower shortages, rising maintenance costs and difficulty obtaining aircraft spares eventually forced flying activities to stop in 1994-95. A petition filed before the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court in 2001 by the late Flt Lt Shridhar Ghatate through counsel Shriniwas Deshpande, and NFC alumni, sought revival of the club and filling of key technical posts. The revival process gathered momentum after the state govt adopted a resolution in December 2006, and a new Nagpur Flying Club company was constituted in 2007. The first successful test flight of a Cessna-152 in November that year marked the return of flying training. A major effort to restore regular training gathered pace after the appointment of a Deputy Chief Flying Instructor in March 2021. In 2025, the club received renewed govt financial support, with ₹49.55 lakh sanctioned for operations, including maintenance, fuel, infrastructure and salaries. The same year brought a notable achievement — Directorate General of Civil Aviation placed NFC among the top 10 Category B flight training organisations in its first national ranking. In April 2026, it floated a tender for a flight simulator so trainees would not have to travel outside the region for mandatory simulator training. A June 29 letter from Divisional Commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari to the state govt sought a policy decision on the club’s professional management.
The club again faced operational difficulties and was reported to have remained grounded for extended periods. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Nagpur | Silver Rate in Nagpur | Bank Holidays in Nagpur | Public Holidays in Nagpur | Petrol Price in Nagpur | Diesel Price in Nagpur | CNG Price in Nagpur | LPG Price in Nagpur Stay updated with the latest Nagpur news.
For an institution that has repeatedly been revived, grounded and rebuilt, the move represents another attempt to give Nagpur Flying Club a sustainable institutional home — and perhaps its clearest opportunity yet to turn its long history into a durable aviation future, its former members said. The institution’s advisory mechanism was later dissolved, leaving its future uncertain. The turning point came through judicial intervention. The court subsequently directed an inspection of its aircraft. Yet revival did not mean uninterrupted growth. The club subsequently expanded its training footprint to Morwa in Chandrapur to supplement operations from Nagpur. The club has also sought to modernise training. But the latest chapter has shifted the focus from revival to institutional restructuring. The club’s board proposed either placing it under a competent state aviation organisation or adopting a privatisation, PPP or joint-venture model. Govt has now chosen a state-sector route. General Administration Department has ordered the club to be transferred to MADC on an ‘as is’ basis, with the divisional commissioner and MADC’s vice-chairman-cum-managing director tasked with preparing the transfer proposal. Download the TOI App.