Rajkot Airport

Rajkot Airport
Departures
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Airports Authority of India
Serves Rajkot
Location Rajkot, Gujarat, India
Elevation AMSL 134 m / 441 ft
Coordinates 22°18′33″N 070°46′46″E / 22.30917°N 70.77944°E / 22.30917; 70.77944
Map
RAJ
RAJ
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
05/23 1,846 6,056 Asphalt
Statistics (Apr '14 – Mar '15)
Passenger movements 551,343 (Increase14.7%)
Aircraft movements 3,334 (Increase14.5%)
Cargo tonnage 134 (Decrease14.6%)
Source: AAI[1][2][3]

Rajkot Airport (IATA: RAJ, ICAO: VARK) is a public airport located at Rajkot, Gujarat, India. Rajkot Airport is the 4th busiest airport in Gujarat. Daily flights are operated by Jet Airways and Air India. Rajkot Airport has parking apron for one Boeing 737 and one ATR 72, with the terminal having capacity for 125 people only. The airport is located 3 km East of Rajkot.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air IndiaMumbai, Delhi
Jet AirwaysMumbai

Modernisation plans

Rajkot Urban Development Authority and Rajkot Municipal Corporation have proposed a plan to extend Rajkot airport runway from current 5,400 feet (1,600 m) to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) to accommodate larger aircraft and to provide connectivity to major cities besides Mumbai to cater to a large demand from the manufacturing companies located in Rajkot. The Airports Authority of India and Civil Aviation Ministry could not negotiate land acquisition price with Western Rail.

However, the airport now suffers from considerable capacity restraints, due to the expansion of the city and because of the residential and commercial buildings which have been built around it – this renders the plan to extend the runway unfeasible. The present strip is incapable of serving aircraft larger than Airbus 320 family/Boeing 737-800 (which is the largest aircraft operating from the airport). As such, plans for an entirely new airport have been submitted, and civil aviation minister Praful Patel has suggested that a new bigger airport be developed on 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land near Khirasara village on the Rajkot-Gondal-Jamnagar, around 10 km away from the city. The proposal has been accepted. The terminal planning is also estimated to arrive soon as the owners of the land, the Royal jadeja's, will accept to sell their land to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation for further upgradations for the city.[4] [5]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the Rajkot Greenfield Airport at Hirasar held on 7 October 2017.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "April 12, Plan to extend Rajkot airport runway grounded". The Indian Express. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  5. ↑ "June 4, AAI's 12th anniversary celebrations report". Airport Authority of India. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  6. ↑ "Narendra Modi in Gujarat: PM presides over 'bhumi pujan' of greenfield airport at Hirasar near Rajkot". Firstpost. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
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