Amritsar Air Force Station

Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport is an international airport serving Amritsar, Punjab, India, located 11 km (7 mi) north-west from the city centre. It is named after Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru and the founder of Amritsar. The airport is the largest and the busiest airport of Punjab. It is the second-largest airport in Northern India after Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. The airport was the 3rd fastest-growing airport in India during the fiscal year 2017–18. It is a hub of cargo movements, domestically and internationally. The airport is ranked the 6th-best regional airport in India and Central Asia in 2019 and 2020 by Skytrax. The airport is awarded as the best airport in Asia-Pacific in 2020 (2 to 5 million passengers per annum) by Airports Council International.

History

In 1930, Amritsar Airport was established during the British tenure and was used for VVIP movements. After independence, it got connected with Delhi and Srinagar. The first international flight to Kabul was launched in 1960. In January 1982, Air India started a flight from Bombay to Birmingham with stops in Delhi, Amritsar, and Moscow. The service linked the large North Indian population in the West Midlands to its homeland and was operated by Boeing 707s. However, the airline terminated it in October 1984 amid the Punjab insurgency.

Using Boeing 777 equipment, Air India commenced service to Toronto via Birmingham in May 2005. The stopover changed to London in 2008. Two years later, however, the carrier replaced the route with a direct flight from its Delhi hub to Toronto. In November 2010, Rajasansi International Airport's name was changed to Shri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport. The following October, British Midland International (BMI) launched a connection to London via Almaty aboard Airbus A330 aircraft. Nevertheless, the flight was discontinued in October 2012 as a consequence of the merger between BMI and British Airways. Air India resumed nonstop services to Birmingham in February 2018, this time using Boeing 787s.

Facilities

In July 2001, the construction of Phase 1 terminal building started, along with the extension of the existing runway, construction of a new air traffic tower and other works. The construction of all Phase 1 works finished in June 2006. The arrivals section of Phase 1 terminal building was inaugurated in September 2005, and the departures section was made operational in March 2006. Over the years, the old terminals (existing and Phase 1) were systematically razed, paving way for a new integrated terminal building (Phase 2), built in glass and steel and equipped with modern facilities like an inline X-ray baggage inspection and conveyor system, Flight Information Display System (FIDS), Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE), and CCTV for surveillance among others, which was inaugurated on 25 February 2009, with an area of approximately , marking an improvement over the earlier facility. The integrated building is a blend of modern and Indian designs, constructed in glass and steel with Indian style arches and colours. For the quarter ending 30 June 2016, the airport registered a 59.6% growth of international passenger traffic.

The integrated terminal building has four aerobridges, an annual capacity of 1.46 million passengers with a peak hour capacity of 1,200 passengers. The building has 30 check-in counters, 4 X-ray scanners (for baggage), 26 immigration counters, 10 custom counters, 12 security check booths, and 4 conveyor belts for arrivals. The apron has been extended to cater for parking of a total of 25 aircraft (8 Category 'E', 3 Category 'D' and 13 Category 'C' types of aircraft & 1 category 'E' for cargo) from the earlier capacity of 15 aircraft and strengthened for parking of Category 'C' type of aircraft. The departure and arrival halls operate duty-free shops. The departure hall also accommodates foreign currency exchange service, restaurants and other shops for the convenience of departing passengers. The airport registered India's highest passenger growth of over 48% for the year 2017–2018. Currently, the flights coming in the airport connect it direct to over 20 destinations across India and other countries.

Terminal

The Amritsar Airport is spread over an area of 40,000 sq. meters with 30 check-in counters, 26 immigration counters, 12 custom counters, and 2 security check booths and can handle 600 passengers at arrival and 600 passengers at departure.

Runway

The Airport is a CAT III ILS compliant airport. During 2016–17 runway upgrade, the flexible portion runway was strengthened and inset lighting installed for ILS CAT III at a cost of 1.5 billion rupees. On 12 October 2017, the Airports Authority of India issued CAT III-B low visibility procedures (LVP) for Amritsar Airport allowing landing at 50 m visual range. Before Installation of CAT III ILS, CAT II ILS became operational on 23 December 2011 and reduced the visibility requirement for an aircraft landing at Amritsar Airport on Runway 34 from the existing 650 metres to 350 metres benefiting airlines in increased safety and avoiding diversions to other airports resulting in better operational and environmental efficiency.

Airlines and destinations

Notes:

: SpiceJet flights between Amritsar and Bergamo/Rome Fiumicino (in both directions) make a stop in Tbilisi. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Amritsar and Tbilisi.

Statistics

Future plans

Considering the High Traffic at this Airport, The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India has proposed to expand the current integrated passenger terminal at the cost of 240 Crore, the existing handling capacity of 2.5 Million Passengers per annum will increase to 5.5 Million Passengers per year.

Along with this projects costing 60 Crores have been approved for construction of addition aprons, parking stands for aircraft and up gradation of current terminal building. Projects have been approved and are expected to complete on schedule.

Amritsar Airport is also proposed to be leased out for privatization on a Public Private Partnership basis, along with 5 other major airports of Airports Authority of India. With privatization, the infrastructure at airport is expect to rapidly improve further.

With the completion of Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway (currently under construction), the travel time from Amritsar to Delhi Airport will be cut in half from current over 8 hours to almost 4 hours. This may likely result in reduction in passenger growth on this route, but will give better road connectivity between this important northern city and National capital.

Connectivity

Road

The Airport is connected by 4 lane National Highway 354, which runs from Amritsar to Ajnala. Taxi can be taken from the taxi stand at the airport. Both Ola Cabs and Uber are available in the city. Auto rickshaw and local buses also connect the city to the airport.

Metrobus

Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport is connected by Route 501 of Amritsar Metrobus which connects it directly to Amritsar Junction, Golden Temple and many other locations in the network of Amritsar Metrobus. MetroBus operated at a frequency of every 10–15 minutes.

See also

* Aviation in India
* Golden Temple
* Amritsar Metrobus
* Amritsar Ring Road
* List of airports in India
* List of the busiest airports in India

References

External links

{{Indian Air Force

Transport in Amritsar
Airports in Punjab, India
Buildings and structures in Amritsar
Science and technology in Amritsar
2006 establishments in Punjab, India
Airports established in 2006