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Bhuj Airport

Coordinates:23°17′16″N069°40′13″E/ 23.28778°N 69.67028°E/23.28778; 69.67028
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Bhuj Airport
Summary
Airport typeMilitary/Public
Operator
ServesBhuj
LocationBhuj,Kutch district,Gujarat,India
ElevationAMSL257 ft / 78 m
Coordinates23°17′16″N069°40′13″E/ 23.28778°N 69.67028°E/23.28778; 69.67028
Map
BHJ is located in Gujarat
BHJ
BHJ
BHJ is located in India
BHJ
BHJ
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05/23 8,205 2,501 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2023 – March 2024)
Passengers66,652 (Increase45.7%)
Aircraft movements1,577 (Increase32.4%)
Cargo tonnage—

Bhuj Airport(IATA:BHJ,ICAO:VABJ) is adomestic airportand anIndian Air Forcebase located inBhujin theKutch Districtof the state ofGujarat,India.It is located 4 km from the city centre. It is situated at an altitude of 257 feet (78 m), and occupies a total area of 832 acres (337 ha).[4]It is located 100 miles (160 km) from theIndo-Pakistan border.[5]

The airport was previously made up of twobunkers/buildings near theBhuj Rudra Mata Air Force Base,with which it shares the runway. On one side of the passing road there was anIndian Airlinesbunker. From there a coach would transport passengers across theIndian Air Forcegrounds to the small departures terminal.[6][7]

History

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The airstrip was destroyed in theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971,in air strikes in which Pakistani bombers droppednapalmbombs. The airfield was raided 35 times in 14 days with attacks by 92 bombs and 22 rockets.[8]It was rebuilt during wartime by a group of 300 women from the nearby village ofMadhaparwho were given 72 hours to complete the task. Later theGovernment of Indiahonoured these women with a cash prize of₹50,000.[9]In 1971 war the Air Force base commander was Squadron LeaderVijay Kumar Karnik.He and his 2 officers with 50 air force and 60 DSC personnel did a great job of keeping airbase operational despite sustaining very heavy Pakistani bombing.[citation needed]

Infrastructure

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The airport has a single terminal that handles all arrivals and departures.[10]The terminal can handle 350 passengers at a time.[11]The airport has 71,920 square feet (6,682 m2) area on the ground floor and 14,880 square feet (1,382 m2) on the first floor. It has two boarding gates and has the capacity for up to 200 people arriving and 200 people departing. There are four check-in counters and one security counter. There is one entry gate and threex-ray baggage scannerprovided by the AAI.[4]

The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of anAirbus A320 family,while the apron can accommodate twoBoeing 737- 800 aircraft at the same time.[11]There is also a permanent helipad located at Bhuj Airport.[12]

Renaming

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In 2005, then Member of Parliament from Kutch,Pushpdan Gadhavi,as well asNarendra Modi,thenChief Minister of Gujarat,made a request to theMinistry of Civil Aviationto rename the airport after revolutionary freedom fighterShyamji Krishna Varma.Then Minister for Civil AviationPraful Patelturned down the request, stating that foreigners might not be able to find the airport if it was named after someone.[13]

Airlines and destinations

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Apron area of the airport
AirlinesDestinations
Air IndiaMumbai[14]
Alliance AirMumbai
Star AirAhmedabad

Statistics

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Annual passenger traffic at BHJ airport. SeeWikidata query.

Accidents and incidents

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The airport was damaged in the2001 Gujarat earthquakeand was renovated at a cost of₹400 million. The renovatedterminalwas dedicated in 2003 by thenDeputy Prime Minister of India,Lal Krishna Advani.[15][13]

The originalATC towerwas destroyed in the earthquake and an ad hoc terminal was set up for rescue operations. It was manned by three officers of theIndian Air Forceand handled as many as 800 takeoffs and landings in a four-day window.[16]The runway itself was damaged but was repaired within hours to allow flights to land by the afternoon of 26 January itself. Equipment was flown in from places likeChandigarhand the injured were flown out to places likePune.[6][17]The Air Force flew helicopters into Bhuj andJamnagarfor evacuation as well as set up medical camps.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Annexure III – Passenger Data"(PDF).aai.aero.Retrieved23 April2024.
  2. ^"Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data"(PDF).aai.aero.Retrieved23 April2024.
  3. ^"Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data"(PDF).aai.aero.Retrieved23 April2024.
  4. ^ab"Technical Information-Bhuj".Airports Authority of India.Archived fromthe originalon 21 February 2014.Retrieved4 February2014.
  5. ^Burns, John (4 February 2001)."The Quake's Silent Ally: A Hidebound Bureaucracy".The New York Times.Retrieved4 February2014.
  6. ^abGujarat (Kutch) India M7.7 Earthquake of January 26, 2001 and Napa M5.2 Earthquake of Sept. 3, 2000: Lifeline Performance.ASCE Publications. 2001. pp. 130, 145.ISBN9780784475065.
  7. ^Bhatkal, Satyajit (2002).The Spirit of Lagaan.Popular Prakashan. p. 104.ISBN9788179910030.
  8. ^Sagar, Krishna Chandra (1997).The War of the Twins.Northern Book Centre. p. 212.ISBN978-81-7211-082-6.
  9. ^"Women rebuilt Bhuj airstrip destroyed in '71 Pak attack".The Times of India.Bhuj. 25 July 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 6 November 2013.Retrieved3 February2014.
  10. ^"Bhuj Airport Information".Jet Airways. Archived fromthe originalon 22 February 2014.Retrieved4 February2014.
  11. ^ab"Cruising Heights"(PDF).Chapter 34.Airports Authority of India.April 2011. p. 35. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 27 November 2013.Retrieved4 February2014.
  12. ^"Co-Ordinates of various helipad -Kutch Helipad".Directorate of Civil Aviation, Government of Gujarat. Archived fromthe originalon 22 February 2014.Retrieved4 February2014.
  13. ^abKaushik, Himanshu (5 November 2005)."Row over renaming of Bhuj airport".The Times of India.Ahmedabad. Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2014.Retrieved3 February2014.
  14. ^"Air India to launch Mumbai-Bhuj flights from March 1".JetArena.Retrieved4 January2024.
  15. ^"Terror attacks will hinder peace initiative: Advani".The Times of India.Bhuj. 4 September 2003. Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2014.Retrieved3 February2014.
  16. ^Jain, Sonu (1 February 2001)."How three men control India's busiest airport this week".The Indian Express.Bhuj. Archived fromthe originalon 21 February 2014.Retrieved3 February2014.
  17. ^R, Venkatesh; Praveen Swami (3 February 2001)."THE KILLER EARTHQUAKE".Frontline.Ahmedabad.Retrieved4 February2014.
  18. ^"INDIAN AIR FORCE: TOUCHING THE SKY WITH GLORY".Press Information Bureau.8 October 2001.Retrieved4 February2014.
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