Jodhpur Airport is a

civil enclave A joint-use airport is an aerodrome that is used for both military aviation and civil aviation. They typically contain facilities of both a civil airport and a military air base. By country United States The United States has several joint-use ...

airport in

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

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 is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and shares its airside with the Jodhpur Airforce Station of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Government of Rajasthan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Air Force for the expansion of the civil enclave in March 2017, wherein 37 acres of IAF land would be transferred to AAI. In May 2021 it was transferred by IAF to AAI through JoDA, and the construction of a new terminal building started. It is the 44th busiest airport in India, handling more than half a million passengers in the year 2018 - 2019.

History

The Jodhpur Flying Club was set up by Maharaja

Umaid Singh Umaid Singh (8 July 1903 – 9 June 1947), also spelled Umed Singh, was Maharaja of Jodhpur from 1918 until his death, He was the Rajput Ruler. The second son of Sardar Singh of Jodhpur, he succeeded his elder brother Maharaja Sir Sume ...

in the 1920s at a small airfield near his Chittar Palace ( Umaid Bhavan Palace) in Jodhpur. Through the next three decades, the airfield grew in stature, being used as an airfield for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The airfield was upgraded in 1950 after the formation of the

Royal Indian Air Force The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire. The Indian Air Force was offi ...

(which later became the Indian Air Force). Jodhpur was home to the IAF's Air Force Flying College until the 1965 war.

Structure

Jodhpur airport's 12-acre civil enclave contains a terminal building measuring a built-up area of 5690 m², which is capable of handling 430 passengers per hour. The terminal has seven check-in counters and three boarding gates. The adjoining concrete apron measures 140 by 100 metres and has three parking bays that can cater to two A320s and an ATR aircraft simultaneously. Jodhpur's runway is oriented 05/23, is 2743 metres long and 45 metres wide. The airfield is equipped with night landing facilities and an

Instrument Landing System In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS) as well as navigational facilities like

DVOR Very high frequency omnirange station (VOR) is a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a receiving unit to determine its position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network ...

/ DME and an NDB.

Jodhpur Air Force Station

Squadrons of

HAL Dhruv The HAL Dhruv is a utility helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in November 1984. The helicopter first flew in 1992; however, its development was prolonged due to multiple factors including the Indian Army ...

Mikoyan MiG-27 The Mikoyan MiG-27 (russian: Микоян МиГ-27; NATO reporting name: Flogger-D/J) is a variable-sweep ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union and later licence-produced in India ...

, Mil Mi-17 and

Sukhoi Su-30MKI The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A varia ...

aircraft are based here. It was active during the

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

of 1999. There is also a battalion of the

Garud Commando Force The Garud Commando Force is the special forces unit of the Indian Air Force. It was formed in September 2004 and has a current strength of over 1500 personnel. The unit derives its name from ''Garuda'', a divine bird-like creature in Hindu cultur ...

here. On 3 October 2022, IAF inducted

HAL Prachand The HAL Prachand (IPA: prəcəɳɖ, lit.''"Fierce"'') is an Indian multi-role, light attack helicopter designed and manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under project LCH. It has been ordered by the Indian Air Force and the ...

into 143 Helicopter Unit at Jodhpur Air Force Station. HAL light combat helicopter

Airlines and destinations

Inside Jodhpur Airport ticketing and baggage screening area.

Statistics

References

External links

Jodhpur Airport webpage
at official Airports Authority of India web site.
Times of India - "Aviator Maharaja"

{{Indian Air Force Airports in Rajasthan Buildings and structures in Jodhpur Transport in Jodhpur World War II sites in India 1920s establishments in India