Gaya International Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | Gaya | ||||||||||
| Location | Gaya,Bihar,India | ||||||||||
| Opened | 2002; 23 years ago (2002) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 116 m / 380 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 24°44′40″N084°57′04″E / 24.74444°N 84.95111°E /24.74444; 84.95111 | ||||||||||
| Website | Gaya Airport | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  GAY/VEGY  GAY/VEGY | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (April 2024 - March 2025) | |||||||||||
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| Source:AAI[1][2][3] | |||||||||||
Gaya International Airport (IATA:GAY,ICAO:VEGY) is aninternational airport servingGaya,Bihar,India. It is located 12 kilometres (7+1⁄2 miles) southwest of Gaya and five kilometres (three miles) fromBodh Gaya, from whereGautama Buddha attained enlightenment.
The airport is spread over an area of 386 hectares (954 acres). The airport terminal building, spread over 7,500 square meters can handle 250 departure and 250 arrival passengers, twoaerobridges and anapron capable for handling fiveAirbus A320 type aircraft. It is mainly seasonal and primarily caters to Buddhist tourists coming fromSouth-East Asian countries fromThailand,Bhutan andMyanmar at present.[4]
A January 2021 report by theParliament of India described the IATA code as "inappropriate, unsuitable, offensive and embarrassing" for Gaya due to the city's religious significance. In its report, the Committee on Public Undertakings recommended changing the airport code from "GAY" to "YAG", asking the government to "make all efforts" to change the code. As of February 2022, IATA has rejected a code change, stating that airport codes are permanent unless a strong justification relating to air safety is given.[5] LGBT groups in India have criticized the parliamentary committee's request as reflective ofhomophobia.
[6]Gaya Airport also serves as the only place of Bihar from whereHajj pilgrims take direct flight toJeddah andMadina in Saudi Arabia.
An additional 40 hectares (100 acres) of land is under process for acquiring, while another 40 hectares (100 acres) of land from four villages is to be acquired for runway expansion. TheAirports Authority of India (AAI) plans to develop the airport as a standby toKolkata Airport.[7] The thenMinister of State for Civil Aviation,K.C. Venugopal, informed the Rajya Sabha on 2018 that AAI has requested theGovernment of Bihar for a further acquisition of around 80 hectares (200 acres) to allow the airport to be expanded. The airport is to be expanded and upgraded with the construction of a new passenger terminal building which would replace the current terminal structure. Other expansion works include expanding runaway 10/28, and installation ofCAT-I ILS approach system. In the future, a cargo terminal has also been planned to be built.[8]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air India | Delhi |
| Bhutan Airlines | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi,[9]Seasonal:Paro[10] |
| Drukair | Seasonal:Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi,[citation needed]Paro[11] |
| IndiGo | Delhi,[12]Kolkata[13] |
| Myanmar Airways International | Seasonal:Yangon[14] |
| Myanmar National Airlines | Seasonal:Yangon[citation needed] |
| Sky Angkor Airlines | Seasonal:Phnom Penh[15] |
| SpiceJet | Seasonal charter:Medina[16] |
| Thai AirAsia | Bangkok–Don Mueang[17] |
| Thai Airways International | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi[18] |
Passenger and aircraft movements at Gaya Airport (2011-2022)
| Year | Passengers | Change | Aircraft movements | Change | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | 47,311 |  32.1% | 625 | 20.7% | [19] |
| 2020–21 | 69,655 | 70.7% | 788 | 78.1% | [20] |
| 2019–20 | 237,452 |  16.1% | 3,606 | 96.1% | [21] |
| 2018–19 | 213,635 | 14.4% | 2,649 | 8.6% | [22] |
| 2017–18 | 186,670 | 5.1% | 2,439 | 11.2% | [23] |
| 2016–17 | 177,663 | 13.1% | 2,193 | 4.8% | [24] |
| 2015–16 | 157,144 | 22.0% | 2,093 | 28.0% | [25] |
| 2014–15 | 128,829 | 24.6% | 1,635 | 13.8% | [26] |
| 2013–14 | 102,212 | 16.5% | 1,437 | 5.6% | [27] |
| 2012–13 | 121,091 | 23.2% | 1,524 | 23.9% | [28] |
| 2011–12 | 98,273 | 94.0% | 1,230 | 108.5% | [29] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
