Surat Airport

History

Surat Airport was built by the state government of Gujarat. During the 1990s, Vayudoot and Gujarat Airways flew to Surat Airport but both discontinued their flights in May 1994 and January 2000, respectively. The airport, with a 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) airstrip and an adjoining 60 by 40 metres (200 ft × 130 ft) apron was then transferred to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2003, who began to modernise the airport. After a failed initial attempt in July 2004 to connect Surat with Mumbai and Bhavnagar due to poor airport infrastructure, the now defunct airline Air Deccan operated an ATR 42 aircraft daily from November 2004 to July 2005.

Surat remained the only city in the world with a population of over 4.6 million people without a functioning airport until commercial services resumed on 6 May 2007 with an Indian Airlines Airbus A319 flight to Delhi flagged off by Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel at 12:40 IST. By this time, major improvements had been made to the airport.

Structure

Surat airport's new terminal building is capable of handling 240 passengers per hour. With the installation of 2 aerobridges in December 2015, it has now increased to 1500 pax/hour . The adjoining concrete apron measures 235 by 90 metres, and is linked by two taxiways to its sole runway that is oriented 04/22, is 2250 metres long and 45 metres wide which is going to be extended to 2905 metres till 2017. The airfield is equipped with night landing facilities and an Instrument Landing System (ILS) as well as navigational facilities like DVOR/DME and an NDB. The new airport is accessible through Gaurav Path, a newly developed express-road at Piplod. City buses operate between the airport and city center.

Future development

The Airport Authority of India announced that the Airport required 864 hectares of land, and the Gujarat government has allocated such land for the development. Planned improvements at the airport include a capacity to handle up to 7 jets at a time, extending the runway to 2905 meters. The extension work of the runway has begun.

Surat airport has got the much-needed infrastructure push with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) approving the expansion plan for the terminal building. The expansion was necessary considering the increase in passenger traffic and future requirement to commence international flight operations.

The present terminal building spread on 3,600 sq m will be extended on both the sides, adding another 5,746 sq m. This will take the total area of the terminal building at 9,346 sq. The carpet area of the terminal's first floor will be nearly doubled from 3,200 sq m to 6,172 sq m AAI sources said that that work on expansion will begin shortly. The number of aerobridges will also be increased from two to five. Recently, executive director (western region) of AAI, K Hemalatha had written to the Director General of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) proposing that Surat airport be customs notified for commencing international operations of passenger and cargo by the first quarter of 2017. Hemalatha stated that the AAI has identified Surat airport in the WR, which has strong potential for international flight operations. Talking to TOI, airport director, Pramod Kumar Thakre said, "CBEC has agreed to provide customs facility if the infrastructure is ready. However, since the terminal expansion is a long-term project, we are modifying the existing terminal to prepare the airport for limited international operations." Thakre added, "We intend to complete the terminal modification in next three to four months. Here, we will set up separate counters for domestic and international flights and a partition for customs facilities. Also, the runway expansion from 2,250 meters to 2,905 meters will be completed by May, making Surat as the second biggest airport after Ahmedabad" Thakre said they are in touch with a couple of airlines, which are interested in launching international operations from Surat. After the modification of terminal building and the customs clearance from CBEC, the interested airlines may start in the winter schedule this year. At present, Surat airport has only domestic connectivity to Mumbai and Delhi. As per the data, during the year 2015-16, about 4 lakh passengers from Surat travelled to international destinations through Mumbai and Ahmedabad airport. In additional, Surat has also good potential for air cargo. As per the data, about 7,000 metric tones of cargo is currently airlifted via Mumbai, therefore facilitating direct airlifting of cargo from Surat to benefit the trade and industries. AS per AAI, the airport is fully equipped to cater 500 passengers per hour, the runway extension of 2,905 meter likely to be completed by 2017, airport is equipped with instrument landing system, night landing facilities, operational, fire safety, navigation, metrological and ATC.

Terminal

A new Surat airport terminal building was inaugurated on 27 February 2009 by Union Minister of State for Petroleum Dinsha Patel, in the absence of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who had to cancel his visit due to unavoidable circumstances. The terminal building, constructed at a cost of Rs 40 crore, has a total floor area of 8,500 sq mt and can handle 240 passengers per hour. It is equipped with CCTV cameras, two Baggage carousels in the arrivals hall and one hand baggage X-ray machine, among other modern facilities like two air bridges with Visual Docking Guidance System, two elevators and two escalators, and a 120-seat lounge. Also, Coffee Culture and other shops have been added.