Bokaro Airport | |||||||||||
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 Terminal Building of Bokaro Airport | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Steel Authority of India Limited | ||||||||||
| Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | Bokaro | ||||||||||
| Location | Bokaro,Jharkhand,India | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 715 ft / 218 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 23°38′36″N86°08′56″E / 23.64333°N 86.14889°E /23.64333; 86.14889 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  VEBK Location of the airport in Jharkhand Show map of Jharkhand VEBK VEBK (India) Show map of India | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Bokaro Airport (IATA:none,ICAO:VEBK) is adomestic airport owned by theSteel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and operated by theAirports Authority of India (AAI). It is located approximately 4.1 km (2.5 mi) from the city centre. The airport has been primarily developed to serve the region ofEastern part ofJharkhand and some districts ofWest Bengal. It is spread over an area of 200 acres (81 ha) while the runway is 1,650 meters long, capable of handlingATR 72 type of aircraft.[2] FormerChief MinisterRaghubar Das and former Minister of State for Civil AviationJayant Sinha laid thefoundation stone of development for the airport on 25 August 2018, and is set to be inaugurated on 28 February 2024.[3][4]
The airport was built in the late 1960s to handle private flights for operations of theSteel Authority of India Limited. It began operating as a private airport until 2010. In the mid-2010s, the formerChief MinisterRaghubar Das drafted a plan to develop this airport to handle scheduled commercial flights.
The steel company had signed aMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) with theAirports Authority of India (AAI) in 2018, to construct the airport, to promote tourism in the state.[5] The development work included resurfacing and strengthening of the existing runway, apron, taxiways, including grading of the operational area, along with the provision of expendable low-cost terminal building, installation ofAir Traffic Control (ATC) tower, ESS building, watch tower, PAPI, night landing facilities on the runway and other ancillary works which are now almost completed.
The airport includes a boundary wall and perimeter road, terminal building, and passenger waiting areas. At least 6000 trees were cut down, while over 1000 trees were transplanted for the expansion of the airport. With an investment of ₹ 8 crore, theAir Traffic Control tower was built byAirports Authority of India. The tower is mobile and can be moved around the airport as needed.[6]
In June 2023,Alliance Air andFlyBig was selected to operate flights fromBokaro toKolkata andPatna, under the Government's Regional Connectivity Scheme calledUDAN.[7]