Swami Vivekananda Airport

Swami Vivekananda International Airport Mana Airport स्वामी विवेकानन्द हवाई अड्डा, रायपुर
IATA: RPR – ICAO: VERP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of India
Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Raipur, Naya Raipur
Location	Mana, Raipur,  India
Hub for	Chhattisgarh Air Link
Elevation AMSL	1,041 ft / 317 m
Coordinates	21°10′52″N 081°44′18.5″E / 21.18111°N 81.738472°E / 21.18111; 81.738472Coordinates: 21°10′52″N 081°44′18.5″E / 21.18111°N 81.738472°E / 21.18111; 81.738472
Website	http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/raipur_generalinfo.jsp
Map
RPR Location of airport in India
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 06/24 7,500 2,286 Asphalt
Statistics (2014)
Passenger movements 887,149(5.66) Aircraft movements 8,628 Cargo tonnage 3,982
Source: AAI,[1]

Swami Vivekananda International Airport (IATA: RPR, ICAO: VERP) (formerly known as Mana Airport) is the primary airport serving the state of Chhattisgarh, India. The airport is centrally located at Mana, 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Raipur between the old city and the new seat of the state government Naya Raipur. In 2006, this Airport witnessed an 82% increase in passenger traffic (the highest in the country for that year). The Airport is one of the 35 non-metro airports recently modernised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Swami Vivekananda - The Airport is named after this great saint.

On 24 January 2012, the Union cabinet of India approved the State Government's proposal for renaming Raipur airport after the well known Indian saint Swami Vivekananda who spent 2 years of his teenage in Raipur.^[2] It is currently served by Air India, Jet Airways, Jetlite and IndiGo while Kingfisher Airlines suspended its operations in November 2011 due to its bad financial condition. There are also non-scheduled services by Air Odisha^[3] to Bhubaneswar and Air Taxi services by Chhattisgarh Air Link which flies from here to other cities of Chhattisgarh.^[4]

New Integrated Terminal

A new integrated terminal covering an area of 18,500 m² (4.6 acres) has been constructed by a joint venture of Era Infra Engineering and KMB from Ukraine at a cost of ₹136 crore (US$20 million).^[5] It was inaugurated on 7 November 2012 by President Pranab Mukherjee.^[6][7] The new terminal has 2 aero-bridges, 20 check-in counters, 2 x-ray luggage machines, 3 security check points and 3 conveyor belts for luggage. The building is designed to handle 700 passengers including 200 international flyers at a time.^{[8][9][10][11]} The terminal also has a provision on 15 immigration counters for prospective international flights. The Roofing and Ceiling system was been developed by POLYBOND Organics pvt ltd as a sub contractor for Era Infra. One of the most competitive and challenging work taken by POLYBOND ORGANICS Pvt ltd giving the country one of the most advanced and sofisticated infrastructure solution.

Shoppers Stop has opened a retail store in the new integrated terminal making it one of the five Airport Stores operated by Shoppers Stop Ltd. in India.^[12] The airport however, is likely to remain 'dry' as the Airports Authority of India has abandoned the proposal for opening of a beer bar after opposition by the public against the sale of liquor at a place named after a great saint.^[13]

The proposed international terminal is being upgraded along with the runway expansion project to enable the airport to handle larger aircraft for starting international operations, connecting the city to South-East Asia and the Middle East. The new terminal will be used for domestic flights, while the proposed international terminal is being renovated to handle international operations. Currently 4 international carriers have shown interest to start operations to Bangkok, Dubai, Qatar and Singapore once the airport is ready to start international operations.^[14]

The Airports Authority of India has also cleared the way for starting air cargo operations from the airport by giving nod to develop the old terminal building into a cargo complex.^[15]

The airfield is equipped with night landing facilities and a CAT- 1 Instrument Landing System (ILS) as well as Navigational facilities like DVOR, DME, and an NDB. ^[16]

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled

Cargo

Charter

Awards and Recognition

• Ranked Number 1 in overall customer satisfaction (July-Dec 2014) in Non-Metro Category. With a score of 4.75 on a scale of 5.00, the airport topped the list of 10 best non-metro airports in the country operated by Airports Authority of India (AAI).^[18][19]
• 'Best Airport of the Country in Non-Metro Category' for the year 2013 by the Union Tourism Ministry.^[9][20]

Accidents and incidents

• 15 June 2012: A Border Security Force (BSF) operated HAL Dhruv, registered VT — BSN, lost altitude during a test flight at the airport dropping from a height of 100 ft. Three occupants were injured including one of the pilots sustaining serious injuries. The chopper had incurred substantial damage in the accident.^[21]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raipur Airport.

• Raipur Airport at AAI
• Raipur Airport - India Airport Global Website
• Airport information for VARP at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.