Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Airport, Nanded is a public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located in

Nanded Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the tenth largest city in the state and the seventy-ninth most populous city in India. It is the second largest city in Marathwada region. It is the district headquarters of Nanded distric ...

, in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was inaugurated on 4 October 2008 by Union Aviation Minister Shri.

Praful Patel Praful Manoharbhai Patel (born 17 February 1957) is an Indian Nationalist Congress Party politician, industrialist and sports administrator. He was the president of India's association football governing body the All India Football Federatio ...

and the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra,

Vilasrao Deshmukh Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh (26 May 1945 – 14 August 2012) was an Indian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, first term from 18 October 1999 to 16 January 2003 and second term, from 1 November 2004 to 5 D ...

, with

Kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. ...

flying a special commemorative flight to Nanded airport using its

ATR-72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed by ...

turboprop aircraft.

History

The Nanded Airfield was built in 1958 by the Public Works Department. However, it remained underdeveloped for many years, being served only for a short while by regional carrier

Vayudoot Vayudoot ( hi, वायुदूत, Vāyudūt, messenger who rides on the wind) was a regional airline in India established on 20 January 1981 as a joint-venture between the two state-owned carriers, Indian Airlines and Air India. The airline ...

in the early 90s. In April 2000, the

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is a project of the government of Maharashtra state in India and is the leading corporation of Maharashtra. It provides businesses with infrastructure such as land (open plot or built-up spa ...

took over the development and maintenance of the airport. To push trade in the region, the Maharashtra State Industries Ministry initiated the process of modernisation of airports operated by MIDC in 2006. Tenders were floated to invite private parties to draw out a plan for airport operations, as a result of which, the airport was leased to Reliance Airport Developers, a subsidiary of Reliance Infra that undertakes project management, implementation, and operation of airports, who currently operate the airport.

Structure

While the new terminal building, capable of handling 300 passengers at peak hours, featured six

check-in Check-in is the process whereby people announce their arrival at an office, hotel, airport, hospital, seaport or event. Office check-in Many offices have a reception or front office area near the entrance to greet or assist visitors arriving to a ...

counters, VIP lounges, departure and arrival lounges, transit suites & snooze cabins, visitors' waiting area, and cafeteria, the airside saw drastic improvements as well. The sole runway was extended from 1375 metres to 2300 metres. Runway width was also increased by 15 metres to 45 metres, making it capable of handling larger aircraft such as the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

and the

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

. A new night landing system and airfield lighting system was installed along with modern

navigational aids Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation awarded a provisional aerodrome licence to Nanded Airport in the public use category on 5 April 2010, and a permanent licence on 1 October 2010. Passenger traffic at Nanded Airport in FY 2011 Q2 increased to almost 5,700 per month from 3,000 in the previous quarter.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

References

{{Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Airports in Maharashtra Memorials to Guru Gobind Singh Transport in Nanded Airports established in 2008 2008 establishments in Maharashtra

History

Structure

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

See also

References