Gaya Airport

Gaya Airport, also known as Bodhgaya Airport, (IATA: GAY, ICAO: VEGY) is an international airport serving Gaya, Bihar, India. This airport is 12 kilometres south-west of Gaya and 5 kilometres away from the temple city of Bodhgaya which is Gautama Buddha's place of enlightenment. The airport operates permanent pilgrimage flights from Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Japan and all over the world as being the gateway to the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage site in the world.

This article is about the airport in India. For the airport in Niger, see Gaya Airport (Niger).

Gaya Airport
Bodhgaya Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorAirports Authority of India
ServesGaya
LocationGaya, India
Elevation AMSL116 m / 380 ft
Coordinates24°44′40″N 084°57′04″E
WebsiteGaya Airport
Map
GAY
GAY
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 2,286 7,500 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passenger movements354,679
Aircraft movements1,635(13.8%)
Source: AAI,[1][2]

Expansion

An additional 100 acres of land is under encroachment while another 100 acres of land from four villages is to be acquired for runway expansion. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to develop the airport as a standby to the Kolkata Airport.[3] Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal had informed the Rajya Sabha on 28 August 2013 that Airports Authority of India (AAI) has requested the government of Bihar for a further acquisition of around 200 acres to allow the airport to be expanded.

Overview

Gaya airport is spread over an area of 954 acres. An additional 100 acres of land is under encroachment while another 100 acres of land from four villages is to be acquired for runway expansion. The airport terminal building, spread over 7,500 square meters can handle 250 incoming and 250 outgoing passengers. This airport is mainly seasonal and primarily caters to Buddhist tourists coming from South East Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, etc.[4]

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Air India Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi
Seasonal: Yangon
Bhutan Airlines Seasonal: Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Paro
Druk Air Seasonal: Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Paro
IndiGo Kolkata, Varanasi[5]
Myanmar Airways International Seasonal: Mandalay, Yangon
Myanmar National Airlines Seasonal: Yangon
Thai AirAsia Seasonal: Bangkok–Don Mueang
Thai Smile Seasonal: Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. "TRAFFIC STATISTICS - DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS". Aai.aero. Archived from the original (jsp) on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  2. https://www.aai.aero/en/node/74281
  3. "Airport land issue: Patna's loss, Gaya's gain". The Times of India. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  4. "Buddhist Tourists". Archived from the original on 26 November 2016.
  5. "IndiGo to launch flights on Buddhist circuit from August".
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