Bilaspur Airport

Coordinates: 21°59′18″N 82°06′40″E / 21.98833°N 82.11111°E / 21.98833; 82.11111
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bilaspur Airport
AMSL
274 m / 899 ft
Coordinates21°59′18″N 82°06′40″E / 21.98833°N 82.11111°E / 21.98833; 82.11111
WebsiteBilaspur Airport
Maps
PAB is located in Chhattisgarh
PAB
PAB
Location of airport in Chhattisgarh
PAB is located in India
PAB
PAB
PAB (India)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
17/35 1,535 5,035 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2022 - March 2023)
Passengers39,570 (Increase 56.1%)
Aircraft movements1,184 (Increase 50.6%)
Cargo tonnage—
Source: AAI[1][2][3]

Bilaspur Airport (

Arpa River.[4]

History

Built in 1942, it opened as

British India. It was used as an airfield during World War II. It was used by No. 267 Squadron, No. 96 Squadron, No. 10 Squadron and other units. No. 673 Squadron undertook sporadic glider training and courses in jungle warfare in 1945 in the air force station. It never undertook operational duties because of the Japanese surrender. Some operational missions were undertaken; however the pilots of this squadron detached to other units, flying Dakotas and L-5 Sentinels. The squadron disbanded at Kargi Road Airstrip, another military airfield in Bilaspur, on 25 October 1945. After India got independence from Great Britain, the airfield was transferred to the war department of the Government of India. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took control of the airport, followed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation
.

The airport was associated with commercial flight operations to Nagpur, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Raipur and Bhopal in 1988, operated by Vayudoot.

The

civil enclave.[7] On 7 December 2018, the airport got the commercial licence from the DGCA for operating commercial flights by using 19-seater aircraft. On 27 January 2021, the airport got the commercial licence from DGCA for operating commercial flights, this time for 72-seater aircraft.[8] On 2 February 2021, the former Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, announced that commercial flight services will be operational from the airport to Prayagraj, Delhi, Bhopal and Jabalpur from 1 March 2021.[9] As of May 2023, Alliance Air operates regular and weekly flights to Bhopal, Indore
, Prayagraj and Jabalpur.

Airfield

Apron area of the airport

The airport has a passenger terminal, an

apron
, among other ancillary facilities, like a fire station. It is situated at an elevation of 276 metres above mean sea level.

The runway at present caters to only ATR-72 type aircraft, which is too small for handling larger aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, which need a runway at least 2,190 metres in length and 45 metres in width (6,860 ft.). This means low-cost carriers like IndiGo, AIX Connect and Go First, which have a fleet of the types of aircraft mentioned above, cannot serve the airport until the runway is extended and widened.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Alliance Air Delhi,[10] Kolkata, Hyderabad Jabalpur

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at PAB airport. See Wikidata query.

2019 indefinite strike

On 26 October 2019, a large number of local residents began an indefinite strike to protest against the Central and State Governments for demanding more air connectivity from the airport, at a city townhall, named Raghvendra Rao Bhawan. Their demands were as follows:

  • The airport should be upgraded to a full-fledged 4C category airport, by expanding the runway to facilitate larger aircraft to operate, or to develop a new completely new airport.
  • Connectivity to metro cities like
    Bengaluru
    , etc.

The people also started gathering on the social media platforms of

Bilaspur constituency
to draw their attention towards development of the airport and to take immediate actions. The group on the two social media platforms was created so that people among it share updates and announcements based on the airport's development.

As of May 2023, the airport has been operationalized for 3C operations, and has regular and weekly flights to

Allahabad, along with Bhopal and Indore, both of which are suspended due to some issues with the only operating airline, Alliance Air. Local residents of Bilaspur district
are still continuing their strike by asking for the airport upgradation from 3C to 4C category.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Bilaspur airport to be named after Bilasa Bai Kevtin: Chhattisgarh CM". The Times of India. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Helicopters recalled from UN duty to combat Naxals". Deccan Herald. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  6. The Telegraph (Kolkata). Archived from the original
    on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  7. ^ "AAI has a list of grouses with Army". The Asian Age. 18 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Bilaspur airport gets commercial flight license". Deccan Herald.
  9. ^ "Bilaspur-Delhi air service will start from March 1, Union Civil Aviation Minister announced". Rajasthan Patrika. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Alliance Air commences Delhi-Bilaspur service". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 1 November 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bilaspur_Airport&oldid=1220181989"