Bhuj Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | |||||||||||
| Serves | Bhuj | ||||||||||
| Location | Bhuj,Kutch district,Gujarat,India | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 257 ft / 78 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 23°17′16″N069°40′13″E / 23.28778°N 69.67028°E /23.28778; 69.67028 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  BHJ  BHJ | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (April 2024 – March 2025) | |||||||||||
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| Source:AAI[1][2][3] | |||||||||||
Bhuj Airport (IATA:BHJ,ICAO:VABJ) is adomestic airport and anIndian Air Force base located inBhuj in theKutch District of the state ofGujarat,India. It is located 4 km from the city centre. It is situated at an altitude of 257 feet (78 m), and occupies a total area of 832 acres (337 ha).[4] It is located 100 miles (160 km) from theIndo-Pakistan border.[5]
The airport was previously made up of twobunkers/buildings near theBhuj Rudra Mata Air Force Base, with which it shares the runway. On one side of the passing road there was anIndian Airlines bunker. From there a coach would transport passengers across theIndian Air Force grounds to the small departures terminal.[6][7]
The airstrip was destroyed in theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971, in air strikes in which Pakistani bombers droppednapalm bombs. The airfield was raided 35 times in 14 days with attacks by 92 bombs and 22 rockets.[8] It was rebuilt during wartime by a group of 300 women from the nearby village ofMadhapar who were given 72 hours to complete the task. Later theGovernment of India honoured these women with a cash prize of₹ 50,000.[9] In 1971 war the Air Force base commander was Squadron LeaderVijay Kumar Karnik. He and his 2 officers with 50 air force and 60 DSC personnel did a great job of keeping airbase operational despite sustaining very heavy Pakistani bombing.[citation needed]
The airport has a single terminal that handles all arrivals and departures.[10] The terminal can handle 350 passengers at a time.[11] The airport has 71,920 square feet (6,682 m2) area on the ground floor and 14,880 square feet (1,382 m2) on the first floor. It has two boarding gates and has the capacity for up to 200 people arriving and 200 people departing. There are four check-in counters and one security counter. There is one entry gate and threex-ray baggage scanner provided by the AAI.[4]
The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of anAirbus A320 family, while the apron can accommodate twoBoeing 737- 800 aircraft at the same time.[11] There is also a permanent helipad located at Bhuj Airport.[12]
In 2005, then Member of Parliament from Kutch,Pushpdan Gadhavi, as well asNarendra Modi, thenChief Minister of Gujarat, requested theMinistry of Civil Aviation to rename the airport after freedom fighterShyamji Krishna Varma. Then Minister for Civil AviationPraful Patel turned down the request, stating that foreigners might not be able to find the airport if it was named after someone.[13]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air India | Delhi,[14]Mumbai[15] |
| Alliance Air | Mumbai |
The airport was damaged in the2001 Gujarat earthquake and was renovated at a cost of₹ 400 million. The renovatedterminal was dedicated in 2003 by thenDeputy Prime Minister of India,Lal Krishna Advani.[16][13]
The originalATC tower was destroyed in the earthquake and an ad hoc terminal was set up for rescue operations. It was staffed by three officers of theIndian Air Force and handled as many as 800 takeoffs and landings in a four-day window.[17] The runway itself was damaged but was repaired within hours to allow flights to land by the afternoon of 26 January itself. Equipment was flown in from places likeChandigarh and the injured were flown out to places likePune.[6][18] The air force flew helicopters into Bhuj andJamnagar for evacuation as well as set up medical camps.[19]
