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Bilasa Devi Kevat Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Government of Chhattisgarh | ||||||||||
| Serves | Bilaspur | ||||||||||
| Location | Chakarbhata, Bilaspur,Chhattisgarh,India | ||||||||||
| Opened | 1942; 84 years ago (1942) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 274 m / 899 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 21°59′18″N82°06′40″E / 21.98833°N 82.11111°E /21.98833; 82.11111 | ||||||||||
| Website | Bilaspur Airport | ||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||
  PAB Location of airport in Chhattisgarh Show map of Chhattisgarh PAB PAB (India) Show map of India | |||||||||||
 Interactive map of Bilasa Devi Kevat Airport | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024) | |||||||||||
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| Source:AAI[1][2][3] | |||||||||||
Bilasa Devi Kevat Airport (IATA:PAB,ICAO:VEBU), also known asBilaspur Airport, is adomestic airport serving the city ofBilaspur,Chhattisgarh,India. It is located at Chakarbhata, 10 km (6.2 mi) south from the city centre. The airport made by theRoyal Indian Air Force in 1942, making it the first and oldest airport of Chhattisgarh. It is owned by theAirports Authority of India. In 1980s, the airport was used byVayudoot to provide flights toBhopal,Nagpur,Mumbai andDelhi. Currently, commercial scheduled flights are operated byAlliance Air to Bhopal, Delhi,Jabalpur andPrayagraj. It is named after Bilasa Bai Kevtin, a renowned 16th-century personality known for her bravery and courage to fight against difficult situations, who belonged to a fishermen tribe residing near theArpa River.[4]
Built in 1942, it opened asRoyal Indian Air Force Station, Bilaspur, in theCentral Provinces ofBritish India. It was used as an airfield duringWorld 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 theJapanese surrender. Some operational missions were undertaken; however the pilots of this squadron detached to other units, flyingDakotas andL-5 Sentinels. The squadron disbanded at Kargi Road Airstrip, another military airfield in Bilaspur, on 25 October 1945. AfterIndia got independence from Great Britain, the airfield was transferred to the war department of theGovernment of India. TheDirectorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took control of the airport, followed by theMinistry of Civil Aviation.
The airport was associated with commercial flight operations toNagpur,Aurangabad,Mumbai,Raipur andBhopal in 1988, operated byVayudoot.
TheIndian Army intends to take over the airport and establish a training facility for the special forces. The existing para-military commando training facility atNahan,Himachal Pradesh is to be shifted to Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.[5][6] The Army wants use of the entire airport, while AAI has made a "conditional offer" of parting with 377 acres, while retaining 56 acres for acivil 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 UnionMinister of Civil Aviation,Hardeep Singh Puri, announced that commercial flight services will be operational from the airport toPrayagraj,Delhi, Bhopal andJabalpur from 1 March 2021.[9] As of May 2023,Alliance Air operates regular and weekly flights to Bhopal,Indore, Prayagraj and Jabalpur.
The airport has a passenger terminal, anAir Traffic Control (ATC) tower and one runway, oriented 17/35, is 1,535 metres long and 30 metres wide, with turning pads at both ends. A 630-metre long taxiway connects the runway to a smallhelipad-cum-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 onlyATR-72 type aircraft, which is too small for handling larger aircraft like theBoeing 737 andAirbus 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 likeIndiGo,AIX Connect andGo First, which have a fleet of the types of aircraft mentioned above, cannot serve the airport until the runway is extended and widened.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Alliance Air | Delhi,Hyderabad,Jabalpur,Jagdalpur,Kolkata,Prayagraj |
On 26 October 2019, a large number of local residents began an indefinite strike to protest against theCentral andState Governments for demanding more air connectivity from the airport, at a city townhall, named Raghvendra Rao Bhawan. Their demands were as follows:
The people also started gathering on the social media platforms ofTwitter andInstagram, by creating a group named "BAAC" (Bilaspur Airport Awareness Campaign), for the same demands, asking directly to theMinistry of Civil Aviation,Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and the Member of Parliament and Legislative Assembly ofBilaspur 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 toDelhi viaJabalpur andAllahabad, along withBhopal andIndore, both of which are suspended due to some issues with the only operating airline,Alliance Air. Local residents ofBilaspur district are still continuing their strike by asking for the airport upgradation from 3C to 4C category.
