Ayodhya Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of India | ||||||||||
| Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | Ayodhya,Faizabad | ||||||||||
| Location | Usroo, Ayodhya,Uttar Pradesh,India | ||||||||||
| Opened | 30 December 2023; 22 months ago (2023-12-30)[1] | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 102 m / 335 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 26°44′53″N82°09′03″E / 26.7480337°N 82.1507812°E /26.7480337; 82.1507812 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  AYJ Location of airport in Uttar Pradesh Show map of Uttar Pradesh AYJ AYJ (India) Show map of India | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (April 2024 – March 2025) | |||||||||||
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| Source:AAI[3][4][5] | |||||||||||
Ayodhya Airport (IATA:AYJ,ICAO:VEAY), officially named asMaharshi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhyadham,[6] is aninternational airport currently handling only domestic flights, serving the cities ofAyodhya andFaizabad in the state ofUttar Pradesh,India.[7][8] The airport is located adjacent toNH-27 andNH-330. Construction began on the airport in February 2022, and was inaugurated byPrime MinisterNarendra Modi on 30 December 2023, with flight operations beginning from 10 January 2024.[9][10][11][12] In financial year 2024-25, the airport handled over 1.1 million passengers, making it one of the country's fastest-growing airports.[3]
In 2021, theGovernment of Uttar Pradesh proposed to name of the airport after theHindu deityRama, the protagonist of the epicRamayana, who was born in Ayodhya. In December 2023, the name was changed afterMaharishi Valmiki, the attributed author of Ramayana, to greater represent the Ramayana-based theme of the airport.[13][14]
In 2008, theGovernment of Uttar Pradesh had issued formal orders allowing the landing and parking of private aircraft on the formerIndian Air Force airstrip against a fee. According to the government order, any private aircraft can land by paying ₹ 500. There would be no parking charges for the first two hours, after which ₹ 200 would be charged per day.[15]
In 2012, the formerMinister of Civil Aviation,Ajit Singh, announced to develop three existing airstrips at Faizabad,Moradabad andMeerut to increase regional connectivity by air and to improve connectivity, socio-economic development andtourism in the state.[16] Singh said that theMinistry of Civil Aviation had asked theChief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,Akhilesh Yadav, to provide the Ministry with land to set up nine airports acrossUttar Pradesh, and said that having more airports would generate employment and economic growth in the state.[17] In an endeavour to provide air connectivity to different parts of India, development of low-cost airports is the most important component. Instructions have been issued to theAirports Authority of India (AAI) to identify the most suitable low-cost model for development of smaller airports, and to develop airports in smaller cities based on this mode, as part of thegovernment'sUDAN Scheme.[18]
In 2013, the government approved the transfer of the airstrip at Faizabad to the AAI to be developed as a full-fledged airport, along with three others–Meerut,Moradabad andSaifai, on the instructions of the state cabinet. The government provided extra land free of cost for further expansion and for the construction of a terminal.[19][20][21]
In 2018, thestate government under Yogi Adityanath announced the expansion of the airstrip in Faizabad.[22] The government approved to develop it as an international airport and sanctioned₹2 billion for acquisition of land.[22][23] Land acquisition began from November 2021 and construction began on the airport in February 2022.[9] In April 2022, the government announced that the airport would become operational before the completion ofRam Mandir in 2024.[24] The airport was completed and inaugurated byPrime MinisterNarendra Modi on 30 December 2023, with flight operations beginning from 10 January 2024, started byIndiGo as the first commercial airline to connectDelhi andAhmedabad as the initial destinations.[10][11][25]
The existing airstrip's runway was 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) long and 30 metres (98 ft) wide, which was capable enough for only nine-seater aircraft like theDornier 228.[26] In 2018, theAirports Authority of India (AAI) had stated that an acquisition of around 284 acres (115 ha) more land could make the airport handle 200-seaterAirbus A321 aircraft.[26] In response to this, in November of the same year, theGovernment of Uttar Pradesh decided to acquire more than 280 acres of land around the airstrip and widen the runway to allow the landing of larger aircraft. The projected runway would be 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) long and 45 metres (148 ft) wide, with a 100–150 m-wide set-off area on each side of the runway.[26] The construction would be done in two phases, with a planned third phase. The length of the runway would be 2,250 metres in the first phase, while in the second phase, its length would be increased to 3,125 metres. In the third phase, it is planned to be extended by another 625 metres, thus taking the overall length to 3,750 metres, making the airport capable of handling large aircraft like theAirbus A380. The runway is equipped with facilities to allow night landing of aircraft, such as theInstrument Landing System (ILS),Doppler Very-high frequency Omnidirectional Range (DVOR) andDistance Measuring Equipment (DME) from the first phase of the runway development only.[2][27]
Terminal 1 is the first terminal of the airport as part of the first phase of the airport's development. It covers an area of 6,500 sq.m. and is able to accommodate 300 passengers during peak hours and handle around 1 million passengers annually. It has anapron suitable for parking of fourAirbus A320 andBoeing 737 type aircraft. Within its premises, it has parking spaces for vehicles, an approach road from thenearby highway, a fuel farm, a fuel station, a fire station, anAir Traffic Control (ATC) tower and other ancillary facilities. The terminal, along with the first phase of the airport, started handling flights from 10 January 2024.[12][25][28]
Terminal 2 will be the second terminal of the airport as part of the second phase of the airport's development. It will cover an area of 30,000 sq.m., which will be later expanded to 50,000 sq.m., and will be able to accommodate 3,200 passengers during peak hours and over 5-7 million passengers annually. It will have eightaerobridges and an apron suitable for parking of eightAirbus A320 andBoeing 737 type aircraft, both of which will be increased to 16 as part of the planned third phase of the airport's development. Within its premises, in front of its entrance, it will have a garden for recreation of passengers as a green space and a larger parking space than Terminal 1, along with utility facilities. As of November 2023, the terminal, along with the second phase of the airport's development, is under bidding process.[28][29][30]
Terminal 3 will be the third terminal of the airport as part of the third and final phase of the airport's development. It will cover an area of more than 50,000 sq.m. and will be able to accommodate more passengers than terminals 1 and 2. It will have an apron suitable for parking of eight widebody aircraft like theBoeing 777 andBoeing 787 to handle international operations. Within its premises, it will have the same garden and parking spaces like Terminal 2, but, both will cover more area as compared to Terminal 2. It will also have a new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower that will be taller and bigger than the one developed in the first phase of the airport's development, along with a bigger fire station and utility facilities.[28][30]
In the first phase of the airport's development, the terminal has passenger facilities such as 9 check-in counters, 3 conveyor belts, two lounges to serve passengers and tactile paths to the apron. Outside the terminal, there are four parking spaces for vehicles, a service and utility area, a four-lane approach road to theNH-27 that connects toFaizabad andAyodhya, a fire station, anAir Traffic Control (ATC) tower, a technical block, a fuel farm, will have three medium-scale hotels, four upper-scale hotels among other ancillary and technical facilities. In the second and third phases of the airport's development, further facilities will be added to make the airport at par with international standards. A medical college will also be established between terminals 2 and 3, as part of the airport's master plan created by theAirports Authority of India (AAI).[10][28]
The airport has been designed to portray the local, as well as the state's culture and heritage, in order to make the visitors know about the spiritual, religious and historical influence the city ofAyodhya wields on theIndian society. The designs are etched as murals and wall art inMadhubani art andPattachitra art forms, and engraved scriptures adorning in theNagara style of temple architecture. This art depicts the symbolism of the epics ofRamayana andMahabharata. The architectural style has been adopted also to symbolise theRam Mandir. The "bow and arrow" mural with portraits ofRama near the terminal's entrance along with other artworks are one of the prime themes in the exterior. Built with red stone, the carved pillars from the entrance to the inside of the terminal provide an excellent mixture of the old temple architecture with modern infrastructure. The roof of the terminal, measuring 65,000 sq.ft., is supported by seven big columns, symbolising the sevenkandas (books) of Ramayana. Like ancient temples, the terminal has a rectangular base with carved pillars and ashikhara on its top to symbolise a temple structure. The terminal uses clean energy to generate electricity and follows sustainable measures to dispose waste, conserve water, and hence, is an eco-friendly airport.[31]
| Date | Details | Refs. |
|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2020 | Nand Gopal Gupta, Minister of Civil Aviation,Government of Uttar Pradesh, said Rs 525 crore has been approved and of this Rs 300 crore have been spent so far. | [8] |
| 16 September 2020 | Airports Authority of India projected land requirement of 478.1 acres toGovernment of Uttar Pradesh for development of the airport in Phase - I. | [41] |
| 10 March 2021 | Airports Authority of India sanctions Rs 242 crore to develop airport and an area of around 270 acres has been made available byGovernment of Uttar Pradesh. | [42] |
| 8 April 2022 | Government of Uttar Pradesh's civil aviation department signed a lease agreement withAirports Authority of India for transfer of 317.855 acres of land.Yogi Adityanath said the remaining 86 acres land required for the airport will also be handed over soon. | [43] |
| 6 December 2022 | The airport's terminal is 45% and the runway is 45% completed, and is on track for completion in December 2023. | [44] |
| 2 December 2023 | It was announced that the airport's first phase of work would be completed by 15 December 2023. | [45] |
| 12 December 2023 | It was announced thatPrime MinisterNarendra Modi would inaugurate the airport on 30 December 2023, and commercial flights would be started byIndiGo toDelhi andAhmedabad from 10 January 2024. | [11][46] |
| 23 December 2023 | The initial schedule for this flight was to depart from Delhi at 10:00 AM and land in Ayodhya at 11:20 AM, but according to the new schedule for the inauguration day on 30 December, the flight for Ayodhya from Delhi will now take off at 9:50 AM, with the first flight landing in Ayodhya at 11:00 AM. According to the information, after the first flight on 30 December, this flight will be operational from 10 January onwards. Subsequently, there will be daily flights from Ayodhya to Delhi at the same time, and more destinations in India starting from the same month, to be operated byAir India Express andIndiGo. | [47][48] |
| 30 December 2023 | The first phase of the airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. | [12][1] |
A 3.2 km (2.0 mi)-long four-lane approach road connects the airport directly with the city premises throughNH-27, running towards the western side toAyodhya.
The nearest railway station from the airport isFaizabad Junction railway station, located only 6.8 km (4.2 mi) away to the north-west inFaizabad, whileAyodhya Junction railway station is located 14.8 km (9.2 mi) away to the north-east inAyodhya.
The nearest bus station from the airport isFaizabad Bus Depot, located only 5 km (3.1 mi) away to the north-west inFaizabad, while Ayodhya Dham Central Bus Station is located 16 km (9.9 mi) away to the north-east inAyodhya.
