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Gaya Airport

Coordinates:24°44′40″N084°57′04″E/ 24.74444°N 84.95111°E/24.74444; 84.95111
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This article is about the airport in India. For the airport in Niger, seeGaya Airport (Niger).

Gaya International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorAirports Authority of India
ServesGaya
LocationGaya,Bihar,India
Opened2002;22 years ago(2002)
ElevationAMSL116 m / 380 ft
Coordinates24°44′40″N084°57′04″E/ 24.74444°N 84.95111°E/24.74444; 84.95111
WebsiteGaya Airport
Map
GAY is located in Bihar
GAY
GAY
GAY is located in India
GAY
GAY
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 2,286 7,500 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024)
Passengers320,295 (Increase39.6%)
Aircraft movements2,539 (Increase13.7%)
Cargo tonnage—

Gaya International Airport(IATA:GAY,ICAO:VEGY) is aninternational airportservingGaya,Bihar,India.It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) south-west of Gaya and 5 km (3.1 mi) fromBodh Gaya,from whereGautama Buddhaattained enlightenment.

Overview[edit]

Apron area of the airport

The airport is spread over an area of 954 acres. The airport terminal building, spread over 7,500 square meters can handle 250 departure and 250 arrival passengers, twoaerobridgesand anaproncapable for handling fiveAirbus A320type aircraft. It is mainly seasonal and primarily caters to Buddhist tourists coming fromSouth-East Asian countriesfromThailand,BhutanandMyanmarat present.[4]

A January 2021 report by theParliament of Indiadescribed 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]

Expansion[edit]

An additional 100 acres of land is under process for acquiring, while another 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 Biharfor a further acquisition of around 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 ILSapproach system. In the future, a cargo terminal has also been planned to be built.[8]

Airlines and destinations[edit]

AirlinesDestinations
Bhutan AirlinesSeasonal:Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi,Paro[9]
DrukairSeasonal:Paro[10]
IndiGoDelhi,[11]Kolkata[12]
Myanmar Airways InternationalSeasonal:Yangon[13]
Myanmar National AirlinesSeasonal:Yangon
Thai AirAsiaSeasonal:Bangkok–Don Mueang
Thai Airways InternationalSeasonal:Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi
Thai VietJet AirSeasonal:Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi

Statistics[edit]

Annual passenger traffic at GAY airport. SeeWikidata query.

Passenger, and Aircraft Movement at Gaya Airport (2011-2022)

Year Passengers Change Aircraft Movement Change Ref
2021–22 47,311 Decrease32.1% 625 Decrease20.7% [14]
2020–21 69,655 Decrease70.7% 788 Decrease78.1% [15]
2019–20 237,452 Increase16.1% 3,606 Increase96.1% [16]
2018–19 213,635 Increase14.4% 2,649 Increase8.6% [17]
2017–18 186,670 Increase5.1% 2,439 Increase11.2% [18]
2016–17 177,663 Increase13.1% 2,193 Increase4.8% [19]
2015–16 157,144 Increase22.0% 2,093 Increase28.0% [20]
2014–15 128,829 Increase24.6% 1,635 Increase13.8% [21]
2013–14 102,212 Decrease16.5% 1,437 Decrease5.6% [22]
2012–13 121,091 Increase23.2% 1,524 Increase23.9% [23]
2011–12 98,273 Increase94.0% 1,230 Increase108.5% [24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Public DomainThis article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theAir Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^"Annexure III – Passenger Data"(PDF).aai.aero.Retrieved22 April2024.
  2. ^"Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data"(PDF).aai.aero.Retrieved22 April2024.
  3. ^"Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data"(PDF).aai.aero.Retrieved22 April2024.
  4. ^"Buddhist Tourists".Archived fromthe originalon 26 November 2016.
  5. ^"'GAY' code for Gaya airport inappropriate; make all efforts to change it: Parliamentary panel tells govt ".The Economic Times.Retrieved15 February2022.
  6. ^Farrukh, Rimal (7 February 2022)."Lawmakers Say This Holy City's Airport Code Is Too GAY".Vice.Retrieved15 February2022.
  7. ^"Airport land issue: Patna's loss, Gaya's gain".The Times of India.13 August 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 3 January 2013.Retrieved6 May2013.
  8. ^"Gaya Airport - Status, Master Plan & Design".The Metro Rail Guy.Retrieved22 November2022.
  9. ^"Bhutan Airlines Winter Flight Schedule".24 May 2023.
  10. ^"Drukair to resume Paro-Gaya service from Dec-2022".CAPA.26 October 2022.
  11. ^"IndiGo to commence Delhi-Gaya service in Oct-2020".CAPA.Retrieved29 September2020.
  12. ^"Indigo to operate 22 new domestic flights from 28 March".www.livemint.com.11 February 2021.Retrieved11 February2021.
  13. ^"Myanmar Airways International to commence Yangon-Gaya service".Aeroroutes.Retrieved8 July2023.
  14. ^"AAI Traffic News 2021-2022".www.aai.aero.Retrieved14 May2022.
  15. ^"AAI Traffic News 2020-2021".www.aai.aero.Retrieved18 May2021.
  16. ^"AAI Traffic News 2019-2020".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  17. ^"AAI Traffic News 2018-2019".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  18. ^"AAI Traffic News 2017-2018".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  19. ^"AAI Traffic News 2016-2017".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  20. ^"AAI Traffic News 2015-2016".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  21. ^"AAI Traffic News 2014-2015".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  22. ^"AAI Traffic News 2013-2014".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  23. ^"AAI Traffic News 2012-2013".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.
  24. ^"AAI Traffic News 2011-2012".www.aai.aero.Retrieved6 March2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaya_Airport&oldid=1220177974"