Salem Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Civil Aviation | ||||||||||
| Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | Salem Metropolitan Area | ||||||||||
| Location | Kamalapuram,Salem district,Tamil Nadu,India | ||||||||||
| Opened | April 1993; 32 years ago (April 1993)[1] | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 307 m / 1,008 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 11°46′55″N078°03′52″E / 11.78194°N 78.06444°E /11.78194; 78.06444 | ||||||||||
| Website | Salem Airport | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  SXV Location in Salem Show map of Salem SXV SXV (Tamil Nadu) Show map of Tamil Nadu SXV SXV (India) Show map of India | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (April 2024 - March 2025) | |||||||||||
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| Source:AAI[2][3][4] | |||||||||||
Salem Airport (IATA:SXV,ICAO:VOSM) is adomestic airport serving the city ofSalem, along with neighboring cities ofErode andKarur, inTamil Nadu,India. It is located at Kamalapuram inOmalur taluk, 19 km (12 mi) north-west from the city centre. It is the sixth-busiest airport in Tamil Nadu afterChennai,Coimbatore,Tiruchirappalli,Madurai, andTuticorin airports. It is also thefifth-largest airport in the state in terms of runway length.[5][6]
Salem Airport was constructed and opened in April 1993 at a cost of₹6 crore (US$710,000), covering an area of 136 acres, which was extensively donated by local traders and industrialists. A total of around ₹ 50 lakh, including ₹ 30 lakh, was funded bySalem Steel Plant. Originally, it was planned forVayudoot to begin flight services, using small aircraft and conceived with a 1,350-metre runway, it was later expanded by another 600 meters to accommodate bigger planes. Initially,NEPC Airlines operated flights toChennai andCoimbatore via Salem, usingFokker F-27 aircraft. However, the airline withdrew the service only after three months, citing non-viability as the reason.[1] The airport laid in disuse since then, as no airline was willing to invest in this sector. Although theAirports Authority of India (AAI) had spruced up the airport and made it ready for operation, airlines did not show interest to fly, fearing low patronage. In 2006,Air Deccan agreed to begin its Salem operations, but only if the local industry deposited at least ₹ 90 lakh or gave a commitment for 50% bookings. Meanwhile, Air Deccan merged withKingfisher Airlines.[7] Kingfisher Airlines did provide a service to Chennai, but terminated the service in 2012 owing to its financial problems.
After a 3-year wait and prolonged negotiations, Kingfisher Airlines resumed daily flights to Chennai using itsATR aircraft on 15 November 2009. The service was withdrawn again on 28 October 2011, due to its financial problem.[8] At last, flight service commenced again from the airport to Chennai under thegovernment'sUDAN Scheme in March 2018, this time byTruJet.
G. K. Chaukiyal, executive director (UDAN-RCS) at Airports Authority of India (AAI), in an e-mail message to the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Salem, stated that theHyderabad-based Turbo Megha Airways Private Limited had intimated the AAI of commencing flight services from Salem in the first week of December 2018.Air Odisha was also likely to commence operations from the airport by the middle of February in the following year.[9][10] The AAI had already signedMemorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with these airlines. TheMinistry of Civil Aviation has changed the status of the airport to “served airport” from “underserved and unserved” status, to enable introduction of flight services in March 2018, as a major development.[11]
The only commercial passenger flight to Chennai operated byTruJet was suspended after the airline was shut down due to bankruptcy in June 2021. Since then, Salem Airport remained closed and unoperational, until when in September 2023,Alliance Air announced to restart flight operations from the airport by beginning flights from Salem toBangalore andKochi, from 16 October 2023, under the UDAN 5.0 Scheme.IndiGo has started flights from Salem to Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad from October 2023.[12]
The airport has one runway, oriented 04/22, and is 6,000 feet long. Its 200 by 75-meter apron is capable of handling 4ATR-72 type aircraft and 2Airbus A320 type aircraft. Its terminal building can cater to 100 passengers. Navigational facilities at the runway includeVery high frequency (VHF) radio,Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI), and aNon-directional beacon (NDB).[13]
The excellent conditions prevailing at the airport are highly suitable for flight training. The airport is now the hotspot for the establishment of flight training and pilot training centers in southern India. Given the state of the art infrastructure available here, it is an ideal training airport and base for aspiring pilots. The flight training organisation (FTO) "Ekvi Air" has started functioning from August 2023 at Salem and now is the only licensed FTO in Tamil Nadu, out of 36 FTOs in India.
TheGovernment of Tamil Nadu has issued orders for the expansion of the airport by acquiring an additional 570 acres of land from the nearby villages of Sikkanampatti, Thumbipadi, Pottiyapuram, and Kamalapuram, mostly for the expansion of the runway from 1,806 m (6,000 ft) to 2,438 m (8,000 ft) to handle larger aircraft like theBoeing 737 andAirbus A320 types, and in the future to make it capable of serving theBoeing 777 andAirbus A350 types. The existing runway can only handleATR-72 type aircraft. More facilities have been planned to be added to make it at par with large international airports, such as a warehouse and ahangar to provide maintenance to larger aircraft, covering an area of around 100 acres. The newly proposed expansion falls under theUDAN Scheme, an initiative jointly funded by theGovernment of India andstate governments across India that aims to 'let the common citizen fly'.
The expansion is mainly viewed for the operation of more flights to major and further destinations in India and abroad, likeDelhi,Mumbai and for the night parking facility of aircraft fromBangalore andChennai.[14] At present the airport is equipped to park four ATR-type aircraft or two A320s.
Protests have been going on against the expansion of the airport since 2010, when the then state government started acquisition of land. The villagers forcibly stopped the survey and even held the team of officials in hostage for some time.
On 27 April 2018, hundreds of farmers and their family members laid siege to the Salem collectorate to protest against land acquisition for airport expansion in the city. The primary reason for the protest has been the safeguarding of the land and livelihoods. The proposed expansion of the airport requires 567 acres of land. The main reason for this protest is that if 570 acres of fertile lands are acquired, then their livelihoods would be ruined, and due to long distance from the city centre, they requested that instead of using thousands of acres of land, the land could be chosen which is more available and more easily accessible within 10 to 15 kilometres from the city centre. The land for the initial airport was acquired in 1989 from the parents and grandparents of those protesting now. When theSalem district administration began formalities to acquire lands for expansion, the farmers and the residents strongly opposed it. They also urged the district administration and the formerChief Minister of Tamil Nadu,Edappadi K. Palaniswami, to drop the survey, even as they were assured of huge amounts in compensation.[15][16]
On 19 June 2018, activists includingPiyush Manush andMansoor Ali Khan were arrested for protesting against the airport expansion.[17]
As the airport is too small to be expanded further due to rise in urban growth around it and issues, as well as protests from people and farmers, towards acquiring land for expansion and development, it has been considered to build a new airport for the city. There are area constraints too, where two areas–the steel plant area ofSteel Authority of India (SAIL) and the magnesite mining area ofTamil Nadu Magnesite Limited (TANMAG)–own more than a thousand acres of land each.
TheAirports Authority of India has already stated that even if the land is acquired for current airport also, its runway would have to be broken down, and a new runway would be built, which would cost almost the same as building a new airport. This is also the reason why farmers and protestors are opposing the expansion of current airport and requesting the officials to stop the acquisition and change the location of the airport.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Alliance Air | Bengaluru,Kochi[18] |
| IndiGo | Bengaluru,Chennai,Hyderabad[19] |
Flight services resumed now from October 2023 to Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Cochin.
Lok Sabha memberS. R. Parthiban stated that new routes from the airport would be added soon.[20]
IndiGo makes connections to 82 destinations from Salem via above mentioned metros.
There is high demand from various trading associations and business fraternities to commence night landing facilities and additional flights to Chennai from Salem Airport.[12]
The airport is located onNational Highway 44 (NH-44), about 19 km (12 mi) from theCentral Bus Terminus. Frequent bus services are available from theTown Bus Terminus and also from the central bus terminus viaOmalur. The airport is 17 km (11 mi) from the major railway station,Salem Junction, and the nearest railway stations areOmalur Junction railway station andKaruppur railway station. Cab services, call taxis and auto rickshaws provide 24 hours commuting services to the airport.
