Nal Air Force Station (

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

: BKB,

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

: VIBK), also known as Bikaner Air Force Station and Civil Airport Bikaner, is a domestic airport and an

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

Station, which serves the city of

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

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 si ...

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 located at Nal, 13 km (8 mi) west of the city. The

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 ...

within is operated by the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...

(AAI) and regular scheduled flight under the

UDAN ''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' (Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN'' (Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivi ...

scheme were inaugurated in 2017.

History

By 1964, the diversionary

airfield at Nal was built and operationally ready. The civil air terminal as an enclave within the airforce station was inaugurated on 29 June 2014, and on 26 September 2017 regular flight to Delhi was inaugurated by Air India. The government-owned

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 ...

operated a 20-seater aircraft to this airport in the past but the service was terminated in 1987. The foundation stone of the new terminal was laid in March 2009 by the then Chief Minister

Ashok Gehlot Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) politician serving as the current Chief Minister of Rajasthan. He held this position from December 1998 to 2003, and from 2008 to 2013, and again from 17 December 2018. He represents Sardarpura constituency of Jo ...

. The airport was expected to be completed in March 2012. A dispute between the AAI and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) regarding height of the terminal building led to delay in starting air services. AAI authorities constructed the building up to the height of 6.75 metres, whereas MoD had permitted a maximum height of 5 metres. The civil enclave will include a terminal for 100 passengers and a 60 x 90 m

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

capable of holding two

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 b ...

aircraft. Bikaner Airport construction was completed in August 2013.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Statistics

References

Indian Air Force bases Airports in Rajasthan Transport in Bikaner Airports established in 1964 1964 establishments in Rajasthan {{India-airport-stub