Ahmedabad Airport
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Ahmedabad Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
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| Location | Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India | ||||||||||
| Hub for | Blue Dart Aviation Deccan Aviation | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 189 ft / 58 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 23°04′38″N 072°38′05″E / 23.07722°N 72.63472°E | ||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (Apr '11 - Mar '12) | |||||||||||
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Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (IATA: AMD, ICAO: VAAH) is India's eighth busiest airport with an average of 250 aircraft movements a day. It services the metropolitan areas of two cities in the State of Gujarat - Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The airport is located 8 km (5.0 mi) from the Ahmedabad Railway Station. It is named after statesman and former Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The airport is spread over an area of 1,124 acres (4.55 km2) with the runway measuring 11,811 ft (3,600 m).
The airport is a Major HUB Deccan Shuttles, Blue Dart Airlines and focus city for several Indian carriers which include Air India, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and SpiceJet.
The airport
The airport currently consists of four terminals: domestic, international, an additional terminal for secondary traffic and a cargo terminal. The fourth terminal has been inaugurated and is now operational. The Cargo and the domestic terminals use the same airside facilities but are physically separated on the landside, requiring a five-minute drive between them whereas the new International terminal has been constructed on the opposite of the land side of the domestic terminal and both the terminals are interconnected by an underground moving walkway.
The airport was under renovation and now has 45 parking bays and both the international and domestic terminals have four aero-bridges each. The new terminal has been modelled on the Singapore Changi Airport, a major aviation hub in the Asia-Pacific region.[4]
The new terminal has many firsts for the airport, including a half-kilometre-long moving walkway, which connects the two terminals, making the changeover of flights hassle-free.[5] This will also help in making the airport as an international transit hub, in turn, reducing the burden at the Delhi and Mumbai airports. It will also have sufficient room to welcome the world’s largest commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will spend Rs90 crore to construct a brand new technical block which will enhance the flight handling capacity and provide better control of flights.[6]
The airport handled 2.4 million passengers in 2007-08 and is expected to handle six million passengers in 2010 and nine million in 2012, including both domestic and international passengers.[4] Of the total traffic at Ahmedabad Airport, 75% is domestic and 25% is international.[7] The airport well meets the standards set by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Terminals
Terminal 1 - Domestic
The departures section of the terminal 1 has 30 check-in counters. The terminal has an area of 45,000 m2 (480,000 sq ft) The terminal building has two floors. The arrival and departure areas are separated vertically with a modern, simple, straight-ahead flow system. The ground floor has three boarding gates and first floor has four aero-bridges. The check-in facilities and baggage reclaim are located on level 1 (ground floor). The terminal is designed for ease of operation and minimum maintenance. It also has restaurants, book shops, retail outlets and a VIP Lounge. The arrivals section has three luggage belts, a snack counter, bureau de change, ground transport desks and a VIP Lounge. There are approximately 250 car parking spaces positioned at the Terminal 1. Additional car parking services are currently going through construction. The terminal building is designed to accommodate 1400 passengers at peak hour. The design reflects the best industry practice and caters for 24-hour-operations, under all weather conditions. Recently, the Wi-Fi systems were installed in the building to provide internet access to flyers.
Terminal 2 - International
The Rs 316-crore new airport building, inspired by Singapore Changi Airport, was inaugurated on 4 July 2010 and opened for use on 15 September 2010. The design of the airport was secured through a design competition. The Terminal building is conceived as a distinctive roofline, making reference to the recognisable form of kites associated with an international festival held in the city. The kite-shaped cutouts form skylights, while the surrounding surface area is a membrane of ceiling finish from below and roofing above. The new terminal has both the arrival and the departure sections.
The terminal has four aerobridges and 32 check-in counters for different airlines. With the total floor area of approximately 41,000 sq. meters, this terminal will be able to accommodate around 1,600 passengers at any given time. The new 51,975 sq m apron area can cater for the parking of 9 A-321 and 4 ATR-72 type of aircraft. Ahmedabad is the only airport in western India to be equipped with travelators. The travelator, which is 11 metres wide and 410 metres long, has been put in place in an air-conditioned tunnel at a cost of Rs 80 crore.[8] There is space for 900 cars to be parked, which is double the combined parking capacity of the old domestic and international terminals. The car parking will be handled by electronically operated gates with provision of computerised ticketing.
The total cost of the two-phase project is Rs 290.92 crore (Phase I: Rs. 195.92 crore and Phase II Rs. 95.00 crore). The Italian Thai Development (ITD)-Pratibha Consortium, Mumbai took the first phase work for the terminal building measuring 225 x 88 metres. The second phase of the extension work of the terminal building of 45 x 88 metres is being done by Khurana Engineering Limited.[5]
The project has been planned according to IATA norms for various facilities and intelligent building management systems.
Cargo Terminal
The Cargo Terminal handles all cargo operations. Of all the cargo handled at Ahmedabad Airport, about 56% is international.[7] After the new terminal becomes operational, there are plans to use the existing international terminal as an additional space for handling cargo operations.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger airlines
| Airlines | Destinations | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Air Arabia | Sharjah | 2 |
| Air India | Delhi, Mumbai | 1 |
| Air India | Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kuwait, Mumbai, Muscat, Newark[9] | 2 |
| Deccan Aviation | Bhavnagar, Kandla, Surat, Jamnagar[10] | 1 |
| Emirates | Dubai | 2 |
| Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi | 2 |
| FlyDubai | Dubai | 2 |
| GoAir | Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Ranchi | 1 |
| IndiGo | Agartala, Bangalore, Chandigarh,[11] Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune | 1 |
| Jet Airways | Bhopal, Chennai, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Raipur | 1 |
| JetKonnect operated by JetLite | Bangalore, Coimbatore, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Lucknow, Mumbai | 1 |
| Qatar Airways | Doha | 2 |
| Saudia | Seasonal: Jeddah | 2 |
| Singapore Airlines | Singapore | 2 |
| SpiceJet | Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai | 1 |
| SpiceJet | Dubai | 2 |
Cargo Operators
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Blue Dart Aviation | Bangalore, Chennai,Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata |
| Deccan 360 | Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai ,Cochin,Coimbatore, Delhi, Dubai, Guwahati, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Trivandrum |
| Singapore Airlines Cargo | Singapore |
Ground transport
Ahmedabad airport is located 8 km from Ahmedabad Railway station and Central Bus Stand. For the convenience of travellers, there is a prepaid taxi booth at the airport premises itself. The city centre is 15 km south-west of the airport. The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) also runs a local bus service to the Airport. There are also plans to extend the Ahmedabad BRTS bus routes to cover the Airport. A direct metro rail linking the airport with the city centre is also being considered.
Fixed Base Operators (FBO)
There are several fixed base operators at the airport, including:
Caterers
Cama Hotel, Flying Chef & Conwood
Fuellers
Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil
Ground Handlers
Air Works India, Cambata Aviation, GlobeGround India, National Aviation Company of India Limited
Incidents and accidents
- Indian Airlines Flight 113 operating from Mumbai to Ahmedabad crashed on its final approach to the airport on 19 October 1988, killing 130 people (including all 6 crew members). The flight was cleared for a visual approach into a foggy Ahmedabad, when it struck trees and a high-tension pylon at a distance of 5 km from Runway 23, before crashing into a field and bursting into flames.
- Jet Airways Flight 9W2510, coming in from Indore, collapsed on the runway while landing at Ahmedabad airport on 22 July 2010. There were 57 passengers and four crew members on board the ATR flight. Some passengers were feared to have received minor injuries but Jet Airways officials declined the speculations. The nose wheel reportedly collapsed due to a tyre burst.[12]
Proposed new airport
A new international airport at Fedara, near the port town of Dholera in the Gulf of Khambhat is under consideration.
- Federa, father of all airports
- Federa airport gets wings with govt nod
- Federa airport gets AAI nod
- AAI team inspects site for greenfield airport in Ahmedabad
- GMR, GVK, Changi in race to pilot Fedara airport
- Fedara (Town in Ahmedabad District) airport gets Praful's nod
- Dholera Port project put on a fast track
- New international airport got Gujarat government's nod
External links
References
- ^ http://www.aai.aero/traffic_news/mar2k12annex3.pdf
- ^ http://www.aai.aero/traffic_news/mar2k12annex2.pdf
- ^ http://www.aai.aero/traffic_news/mar2k12annex4.pdf.pdf
- ^ a b "Fly out of Changi, in apnu Amdavad". The Times of India. 28 June 2009.
- ^ a b "New terminal soon at A'bad international airport". expressindia.com. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Rs90 crore for new air traffic control block at Ahmedabad airport". DNA Ahmedabad Edition.
- ^ a b "Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international Airport". Gujarat Money. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Complete detail of what you would get at Ahmedabad's new airport building". Gujarat Money.
- ^ http://www.dgca.nic.in/Int_flt_schedule/Indian%20Carriers_SS12.pdf
- ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Deccan-Charters-to-begin-non-schedule-air-shuttle-service-in-Gujarat-from-Monday/articleshow/15557902.cms
- ^ http://book.goindigo.in/skylights/cgi-bin/skylights.cgi?module=c3&page=DESTINATIONS&language=
- ^ "Plane's nose wheel collapses, passengers safe". IBNLive.com. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
