Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) is an international airport serving the twin cities of Ahmedabad and

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mum ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

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 ...

. The airport is located in Hansol, north of Ahmedabad. It is named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the 1st Deputy Prime Minister of India. The airport is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Gujarat. In fiscal year 2021-22, it handled about 5.67 million passengers making it the seventh-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in India. The airport serves as a focus city for

GoAir Go First, founded as GoAir, is an Indian ultra-low-cost airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is owned by the Indian business conglomerate Wadia Group. In October 2017, it was the fifth largest airline in India with an 8.4% passenger ma ...

. In 2015, the government started the procedure for the privatization of the airport. The new

Dholera International Airport Dholera International Airport is a greenfield airport project in Gujarat, India. It will be built near Navagam in the Dholera taluka of Ahmedabad district. The project site is spread over 1,426 hectares about 80 kilometers from Ahmedabad and aroun ...

is being developed due to expansion constraints at the current airport. AMD2

It was awarded as “Most improved airport” in Asia-Pacific region by the Airports Council International for 2017.

History

The airport was set up in 1937, while international operations began on 26 January 1991. It was categorised as an International airport on 23 May 2000. In March 2004, Ahmedabad gained a nonstop link to the United Kingdom, which is home to a large Gujarati community.

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...

commenced a Boeing 747 service to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's Heathrow Airport, with

Jet Airways Jet Airways (India) Ltd is an Indian airline based in Delhi NCR, with a training and developmental center in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It b ...

joining a few years later. However, both carriers decided to withdraw their flights in 2008. Air India then began a route to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, which lasted until the airline closed its hub in the German city in 2010. In 2010, the new Terminal 2 was inaugurated for handling international passengers. A statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also inaugurated at the airport. In 2015, the AAI invited proposals for privatization of Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Jaipur airports. Air India reinstated direct services to London the following year. A 700 kWp rooftop solar plant was commissioned at the airport on 21 March 2017.

Structure

The airport currently consists of four terminals: domestic, international, an additional terminal for secondary traffic and a cargo terminal as well. The airport has 45 parking bays and both the international and domestic terminals have four aero-bridges each. The new terminal has been modelled based on Singapore Changi Airport. The new terminal has a half-kilometre-long moving walkway, which connects the two terminals. Airports Authority of India (AAI) will construct a new technical block which will enhance the flight handling capacity and provide better control of flights.

Runway

The airport has a single runway that is long.

Air traffic control tower

As part of the airport modernisation process, the AAI announced that it would construct a new

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

(ATC) building that would include a new

airport tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

in height.

Terminals

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 is used for domestic flights and has 32 check-in counters and has an area of . In December 2018, a new Plaza Premium lounge was opened at Terminal 1 (near Gate 4 on first floor), which caters for Priority Pass and other select bank cards as well as some business class passengers based on airline flown.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 was inaugurated on 5 July 2010 and opened for international flights on 15 September 2010. The terminal won the award for the best Steel Structure at the 2009 edition of the National Structural Steel Design and Construction Awards. The terminal has four aerobridges and 32 check-in counters. With the total floor area of approximately 41,000 sq. meters, this terminal will be able to accommodate around 1,600 passengers at any given time. In November 2018, a ne
Plaza Premium
lounge was opened at the international departures area of Terminal 2, which caters for

business class Business class is a travel class available on many commercial airlines and rail lines, known by brand names which vary, by airline or rail company. In the airline industry, it was originally intended as an intermediate level of service between ...

and first class passengers as well as passengers holdin
Priority Pass
and other bank cards. The new apron area can cater for the parking of nine A-321 and four

ATR-72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, Flight length, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by Aerospace manufacturer, aircraft manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR (french: Avions de transport région ...

type of aircraft.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3 will come up next to Terminal 1. This brand new terminal will be used solely for domestic flights. The foundation and construction work begun in early 2019, and this terminal will negate the need for the older Terminal 1.

Cargo Terminal

The airport handled 51,637 tonnes of cargo, inclusive of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

in 2013–14. Sixty percent of the cargo comes from domestic sources. In 2009, of land was leased for a period of seven years out by the AAI to Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation to set up a center for perishable cargo. However, due to a government policy that prevented third-party operations at airports run by the AAI, the CPC was not in use until July 2014, when the minister of state for civil aviation announced that the government had issued a

No Objection Certificate No Objection Certificate, popularly abbreviated as NOC, is a type of legal certificate issued by any agency, organisation, institute or, in certain cases, an individual. It does not object to the covenants of the certificate. The certification is ...

for commencement of operations. In 2014, it was announced that the airport would be getting a dedicated cargo terminal which is expected to come up at Terminal 3.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

* Indian Airlines Flight 113 operating from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

to Ahmedabad crashed on its final approach to the airport on 19 October 1988, killing 130 people including all 6 crew members. The flight was cleared for a visual approach into a foggy airport, when it struck trees and a high-tension pylon at a distance of 5 km from Runway 23, before crashing into a field and bursting into flames. *

Flight 2510, coming in from

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

collapsed on the runway while landing at the airport on 22 July 2010. There were 57 passengers and four crew members on board the ATR flight. Some passengers received minor injuries as the nose wheel reportedly collapsed due to a tyre burst. *In January 2018, a

stray cow Stray cows or stray cattle are animals such as cows, bulls, oxen and buffaloes that roam freely. A cow is considered "stray" when its owner no longer claims ownership or its owner cannot be determined. Cow slaughter is banned in many places in ...

on the runway had caused chaos at airport leading to two planes aborting their landings. The cow crept past security at a cargo gate at the airport resulting in a cargo plane being diverted to Mumbai and delaying five domestic flights and several departures. It took over 90 minutes for the security personnel to clear the runway from the cow.

References

External links

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad
official website {{Ahmedabad topics Airports in Gujarat Transport in Ahmedabad 1937 establishments in India Airports established in 1937