Chandigarh Airport

Chandigarh Airport (IATA: IXC, ICAO: VICG), also called Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, is a customs airport serving the union territory of Chandigarh, India.^[7] The airport is located in Jhiurheri, Punjab and shares space with the Indian Air Force.^[8] The airport caters to 17 domestic destinations and two international destinations. The airport is named after the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.^[9]The airport is operated by CHIAL (Chandigarh International Airport Limited) which is a joint venture company between Airports Authority of India (51%), Government of Punjab (24.5%) and Government of Haryana (24.5%).^[10]

Chandigarh Airport
IATA: IXC ICAO: VICG^[1]
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Owner	Airports Authority of India
Operator	Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL)^[2] Airports Authority of India (51%) Haryana Urban Development Authority (24.5%) Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (24.5%)
Serves	Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula
Location	Jhiurheri, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
Focus city for	IndiGo^[3]
Elevation AMSL	314 m / 1,030 ft
Coordinates	30°40′29″N 76°47′26″E / 30.67472°N 76.79056°E / 30.67472; 76.79056
Website	Chandigarh Airport
Map
IXC Location of airport in Chandigarh Show map of Chandigarh IXC IXC (India) Show map of India
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11/29 3,170 10,400 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024)
Passengers 3,721,229 ( 1.2%) Aircraft movements 26,315 ( 9.4%) Cargo tonnage 8,303 ( 11.3%)
Sources: AAI^[4]^[5]^[6]

History

Chandigarh Airport operated all its civil and commercial operations from the civil enclave of the Indian Air Force Station. Indian Airlines started operating flights from Chandigarh to Delhi in the 1970s. A new airport building was constructed in the civil enclave and was opened on 14 April 2011.^[11] This air terminal was declared a customs airport on 19 August 2011, making it eligible for a limited number of international flights, but no international flight ever operated from this terminal.^[12]

In 2008, the Government of Punjab acquired 304.04 acres of land on the south side of the existing runway in Jhiurheri village at a cost of ₹452 crore (equivalent to ₹13 billion or US$160 million in 2023) to build the new terminal, which was completed in 2015 at a cost of ₹939 crore (equivalent to ₹14 billion or US$180 million in 2023).^[13][14][15] The Government of Punjab through GMADA and the Government of Haryana through HUDA each have a 24.5% stake and the Airports Authority of India holds the rest, a 51% stake in CHIAL the operator of the airport.^[16][2]

On 24 December 2015, the Mohali Industries Association filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for non-operation of international flights after spending ₹1,400 crore (equivalent to ₹21 billion or US$260 million in 2023) on the airport.^[17][18] After numerous hearings at Punjab and Haryana High Court and a long wait, IndiGo and Air India Express commenced flights to Dubai and Sharjah respectively in September 2016.^[19][20]

Facilities

Terminal

The new terminal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11 September 2015.^[21] The terminal was built by Larsen and Toubro and became operational on 19 October 2015.^{[22] [23]}

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the new terminal on 11 September 2015

Construction of the new terminal included two link taxiways to the terminal and cargo complex. A new taxiway was added in April 2022 increasing the aircraft handling capacity to 20 per hour.^[24] The terminal has five bays with aerobridges and eight remote parking stands. The terminal covers 53,000 sq. metres with a capacity to handle 1600 passengers at a time and a parking space for 150 vehicles. The departures are on first floor and arrivals on ground floor. There is one ATM located in the parking area, WiFi inside the terminal, and one duty-free shop in the departures area.^[25][26]

Runway

The airport has single runway 11/29. From 2017 to 2019, the runway went through a major upgrade and repair that was completed on 9 April 2019. The expanded runway with approach lighting is 12,400 ft (3,800 m) long with effective take-off length of runway 10,400 ft (3,200 m).^[27] Since 10 April 2019^[update], the airport is available for 24 hour operations. Additional runway approach lighting in the touchdown zone was installed in 2021 to assist in landing during foggy weather.^[28] As of 2022, runway is 10,400 ft Code 4E and equipped with 900 AFLS, 02 ILS, CAT I ILS at Rwy 11 and CAT-II at Rwy 29 making IXC capable to handle wide-bodied aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

Cargo terminal

The airport includes an integrated common use cargo terminal. The cargo terminal includes five buildings of 450 m² (4,800 sq ft) each, with one building designated for perishable goods.^[29]

Airlines and destinations

 

Boarding area of the airport

Airlines	Destinations
Air India	Delhi, Leh
Alliance Air	Delhi
IndiGo	Abu Dhabi (begins 16 May 2024),^[30] Ahmedabad,^[31] Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamshala,^[32] Dubai–International,^[31] Goa–Dabolim, Hyderabad, Indore,^[33] Jaipur,^[34] Jammu,^[35] Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Pune, Srinagar^[36]
Vistara	Bangalore,^[37] Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai^[38]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at IXC airport. See Wikidata query.

Awards

The airport was awarded as the 'Best Airport by Hygiene Measures' in the Asia-Pacific region in 2021, by Airports Council International.^[39]

See also

• List of airports in India

References

1. (PDF). Airport Authority of India. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
2. CHIAL (PDF) (Report). ICMAI. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
3. "Ready to soar". The Indian Express. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
4. "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
5. "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
6. "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
7. "LIST OF INDIAN AIRPORTS" (PDF).
8. India (10 September 2015). "Land gone, Jheurheri villagers set up hotels near Chandigarh airport". The Indian Express. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
9. "Chandigarh airport renamed after Bhagat Singh: End of a long dispute between Punjab, Haryana". The Indian Express. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
10. "CHIAL, about us". CHIAL. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
11. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
12. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
13. "PM Narendra Modi inaugurates new terminal at Chandigarh airport - The Economic Times". indiatimes.com.
14. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
16. "PM inaugurates new terminal at Chandigarh airport". Trinuneindia News Service. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
17. The Tribune Chandigarh, Tribune News. "Mohali Industries Assn files PIL against Centre". tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
18. The Tribune Chandigarh, Tribune News. "Shut airport, if you can't make it operational: HC". tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
19. "Air India Express launches services to Dubai and Sharjah". Gulf Business. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
20. "IndiGo to start Chandigarh-Dubai flights from September". www.businesstoday.in. August 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
21. "PM Modi inaugurates Chandigarh International Airport". The Times of India. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
22. "India Has a New Eco-Friendly Airport Terminal. And It Is More than Just Amazing!". The Better India. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
23. "PM Narendra Modi inaugurates new terminal at Chandigarh airport". Business Today. 11 September 2015.
24. "Chandigarh airport gets new taxi track to cut back occupancy time". India Today. 14 April 2022.
25. "Chandigarh International Airport: Two years after inauguration, new terminal to get Wi-Fi facility | CHANDIGARH NYOOOZ". Nyoooz.com. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
26. Balachandran, Vappala (19 July 2018). "Airport gets another duty-free shop". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
27. "ixc". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
28. . Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
29. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/since-aug-23-airport-has-handled-3k-tonne-cargo/articleshow/107474549.cms
30. "IndiGo to start new flights to Abu Dhabi from Chandigarh this May". Travel and Tour World. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
31. "New Flights Information, Status & Schedule | IndiGo". www.goindigo.in.
32. "IndiGo to launch 2nd Route from Dharamshala, From April 2, the airline will connect Chandigarh to Dharamshala". JetArena. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
33. Sharma, Anu (1 November 2022). "IndiGo commences direct flights between Indore and Chandigarh". Livemint. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
34. "Jaipur to get new flights to Goa and Chandigarh". Times of India. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
35. "IndiGo to commence Chandigarh-Jammu service in Apr-2024". CAPA. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
36. "IndiGo flight schedules". goindigo.in.
37. . www.airvistara.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
38. . www.airvistara.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
39. aci.aero/customer-experience-asq/asq-awards-and-recognition/asq-awards/current-winner-2020/best-hygiene-measures/

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport.