Airport type Public Elevation 317 m Owner Government of India | Code RPR Phone 077124 18167 Yearly aircraft movements 10,185 | |
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Operator Airports Authority of India Location Mana, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India Address Ramchandi, Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492015 | ||
Swami Vivekananda Airport (IATA: RPR, ICAO: VERP) (formerly known as Mana Airport) is the primary airport serving the state of Chhattisgarh, India. The airport is centrally located at Mana, 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Raipur between the old city and the new seat of the state government Naya Raipur. It is the 28th busiest airport in India.In 2006, this Airport witnessed an 82% increase in passenger traffic (the highest in the country for that year). The Airport is one of the 35 non-metro airports recently modernised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
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On 24 January 2012, the Union cabinet of India approved the State Government's proposal for renaming Raipur airport after the well known Indian saint Swami Vivekananda who spent 2 years of his teenage in Raipur. It is currently served by Air India, Jet Airways, and IndiGo while Kingfisher Airlines suspended its operations in November 2011 due to its bad financial condition. There are also non-scheduled services by Air Odisha to Bhubaneswar and Air Taxi services by Chhattisgarh Air Link which flies from here to other cities of Chhattisgarh.
The airfield is equipped with night landing facilities and a CAT-1 Instrument Landing System (ILS) as well as Navigational facilities like DVOR, DME, and an NDB.
New integrated terminal
A new integrated terminal covering an area of 18,500 m2 (4.6 acres) has been constructed by a joint venture of Era Infra Engineering and KMB from Ukraine at a cost of ₹136 crore (US$20 million). It was inaugurated on 7 November 2012 by President Pranab Mukherjee. The new terminal has 2 aero-bridges, 20 check-in counters, 2 x-ray luggage machines, 3 security check points and 3 conveyor belts for luggage. The building is designed to handle 700 passengers including 200 international flyers at a time. The terminal also has a provision on 15 immigration counters for prospective international flights. The roofing and ceiling system was developed by Polybond Organics Pvt. Ltd. as a sub contractor for Era Infra.
Shoppers Stop has opened a retail store in the new integrated terminal making it one of the five Airport Stores operated by Shoppers Stop Ltd. in India. The airport however, is likely to remain 'dry' as the Airports Authority of India has abandoned the proposal for opening of a beer bar after opposition by the public against the sale of liquor at a place named after a great saint.
Cargo terminal
Fulfilling the long pending demand of the state to start air cargo operations, AAI has converted the old terminal building into Common User Domestic Cargo Terminal (CUDCT). The facility was inaugurated on 4 June 2016. Ahmedabad based GSEC Limited has bagged the contract to operate and maintain the cargo terminal for an initial period of five years.