Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport

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Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
Ahmedabad Airport
IATA: AMD - ICAO: VAAH
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Airports Authority of India
Serves Ahmedabad
Elevation AMSL 189 ft (58 m)
Coordinates 23°04′38″N, 072°38′05″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05/23 11,447 3,489 Concrete/Asphalt

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (IATA: AMD, ICAO: VAAH) is an airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It services the metropolitan area of the city of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. It is named after statesman and former Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

This airport is the busiest in Gujarat and 8th busiest in India. It is served by three International carriers and various domestic carriers. It also serves as a secondary hub for SpiceJet and Air Deccan.

The airport consists of the International Terminal and the Domestic Terminals. These terminals use the same airside facilities but are physically separated on the landside, requiring a 5 minute drive between them. AAI in collaboration with a Singaporean firm are currently constructing a new International Terminal which will provide direct access to planes via aerobridges and provide better facilities than currently available. There is also a new Domestic arrival terminal that is being constructed. There would be 4 aero-bridges attached with the domestic terminals providing direct access to planes.

Contents

[edit] New International Terminal

This project was awarded to CPG Consultants upon clinching the top title in an international design competition for the Ahmedabad Airport International Terminal development.

The international terminal building in Ahmedabad, a city in the northwest state of Gujarat, features a distinctive roofline with kite-shaped cutouts forming skylights, making reference to the characteristic kites associated with an international festival held in the city. The winning design allows abundant daylight from the shear-glass and louvre facades into the interior, bringing comfort to the passengers as well as being energy efficient.

In-line baggage screening, ample passenger processing positions to streamline movement, and shear-glass fixed gangways to aircraft contact gates; are but some of the features of the airport enabling it to efficiently handle up to 1,000 passengers during peak hours.

[edit] ATC Challenges

In recent days (Sept 18 and 21) two near-misses involving the same civilian flight (Mumbai-Rajkot) and military aircraft (the first a transport plane and the next a couple of fighters) over the domestic airport at Rajkot about 200 km southwest, ended up with fingers being pointed at (Ahmedabad) Area Control as well as Rajkot's ATC. The IAF which was engaged in a major exercise at its base in Jamnagar, less than 100 km west of Rajkot, is reportedly investigating the matter in conjunction with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). On Jan 4, 2007 there was yet another near miss involving a Rajkot-Mumbai flight and IAF aircraft. [1]

In recent times, IAF, which has a top command centre in temporary facilities in Gujarat's capital, Gandhinagar, is seeking a foothold at the nearby Ahmedabad airport. A beginning will be made with air transport operations. The obverse of a civil enclave this would qualify as a military enclave. [2] For the buildings, 50 acres of land have been obtained in the "huge" military cantonment in Gandhinagar (a 'greenfield' state capital) as there is no spare land in the Ahmedabad cantonment near the airport. A big air show has now been held at the airport by the IAF to celebrate a platinum jubilee. For this purpose, the period from 10 am to 1 pm was blocked for three days.

[edit] Airlines and Destinations

[edit] International

  1. Air Arabia (Sharjah) [starts April 3, 2007] [1]
  2. Air India (Chicago, Dubai, Los-Angeles, London-Heathrow, Newark, Paris Charles De Gaulle) [2]
  3. Jet Airways (London-Heathrow]) [starts April 3, 2007] [3]
  4. Indian (Airlines) (Kuwait, Muscat, Sharjah) [4]
  5. Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
  6. Qatar Airways (Doha, Moscow) [begins April,2007]
  7. Singapore Airlines (Singapore)

[edit] Domestic

  1. Air India (Mumbai)
  2. Air Deccan (Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Raipur, Ranchi) [5]
  3. Air Sahara (Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata)
  4. Go Air (Currently has withdrawn operations) [6]
  5. Indian (Airlines) (Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Vadodara, Pune) [4]
  6. Jet Airways (Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai) [7]
  7. Kingfisher Airlines (Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad) [8]
  8. SpiceJet (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Goa) [9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links


Airports in India
International airports: | Ahmedabad – AMD | Amritsar – ATQ | Bangalore – BLR | Calicut – CCJ | Chennai – MAA | Guwahati – GAU | Gaya – GAY † | Goa – GOI | Hyderabad – HYD | Indore – IDR † | Jaipur – JAI † | Kochi – COK | Kolkata – CCU | Lucknow – LOK † | Mangalore – IXE | Mumbai – BOM | Nagpur – NAG | New Delhi – DEL | Patna – PAT † | Thiruvananthapuram – TRV | Varanasi – VNS †
† Designated as customs airports. A few international flights operate from here.
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