Raja Sansi International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Raja Sansi International Airport
nativename = Amritsar International Airport


caption = Airports Authority of India
IATA = ATQ
ICAO = VIAR
type = Public
owner =
operator = Airports Authority of India
city-served =
location = Amritsar, India
elevation-f = 756
elevation-m = 230
coordinates = coord|31|42|28|N|74|47|57|E|type:airport|display=inline
website = [http://aai.aero/allAirports/amritsar_generalinfo.jsp aai.aero/allAirports/...]
r1-number = 16/34
r1-length-f = 10,791
r1-length-m = 3,289
r1-surface = Asphalt
footnotes =

Raja Sansi International Airport airport codes|ATQ|VIAR, also known as Guru Ram Das International Airport, after Guru Ram Das, the founder of Amritsar, as well as Amritsar International Airport, is 11 km north-west from the city of Amritsar, India. It is located on the Amritsar-Ajnala Road, near the village of Raja Sansi. It serves not only the city of Amritsar, but also the greater Punjab area, including the city of Jalandhar.

As a government designated international airport, the airport currently handles about 150 commercial flights a week, both international and domestic.

Expansion and renovation

The city of Amritsar has long remained the cultural and tourist capital of Punjab, and the demand for a fully operational international airport has increased in recent years. A newly finished arrivals terminal was inaugurated in September 2005, and a finished departures terminal has been operational since March 2006. This new terminal is a blend of modern and Indian designs, constructed of glass and steel, but with Indian arches and colours.

Amritsar Raja Sansi Airport (ATQ) has now begun Phase II of its development, which will see: [ The Tribune (India) Online http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070310/aplus1.htm]

* A brand new cargo handling facility due to demands from exporters in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, who have no alternative apart from Delhi which is far too far away
* The proposed site for the Permanent Perishable Cargo Centre is located close to the air cargo complex, which has a capacity of 200 tonnes per day
* Passenger terminal building size to be doubled to 41,000 m².
* Four new aerobridges to be installed.
* Parking bays to be increased from 5 to 9 by 2008.
* The runway extended by 369 meters to a total length of 3,658 meters.
* A new car park for passengers and visitors

One of the main drivers for this expansion is a result of the excellent load factors that airlines operating into Amritsar are experiencing. For example ever since Jet Airways' inaugurated its Amritsar-London flights in August 2006, the load factor has been considerably higher than both Delhi-London and Mumbai-London, leading the airline to upgrade the service from 3 weekly to daily flights (effective 15th January 2008): [ Jet Airways Online - Financial Presentation http://www.jetairways.com/Cultures/en-US/United+Kingdom/Investor+Relations/Results/ResultAndPresentation200607.htm]

* August & September 2006 = average load factor of 66% [ Ibid]
* August 2007 = average load factor of 85% [ UK Civil Aviation Authority - Aug 2007 http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data_prov/200708/August_2007_Provisional_International_Routes.pdf]

Air India has also had success on its Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flights with the airline upgrading the service from the current 5 weekly flights to daily in 2008. Traffic through Amritsar Airport is clearly growing rapidly and this is perhaps no surprise considering that more than 26% of all passengers flying from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport are from PunjabFact|date=July 2007.

The Airport Authority of India has shortlisted five bidders from the initial list of 23 bidders for the modernization of the Amritsar airport. These include
#Reliance Energy Limited-AAACPL-RADPL-ASA
#Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
#TADL-Changi Airports-Tata Power
#Lanco Infratech Ltd - Genting (Singapore) Pte Ltd
#L&T-IDPL-Unique Consortium

The development and modernization plans are only for the city-side of these non-metro airports and are expected to be completed by 2010, through public-private partnership (PPP). AAI will take care of the airside development of the airports.

The government wants the consortium of the selected bidder and the AAI to commercially operate the airports and maintain their terminal buildings. It would also be responsible to develop and operate cargo facilities at these airports, besides undertaking the city-side development.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already placed orders for equipments required for ILS-II, which will be imported from Germany-based flight safety equipment firm Thalef. The equipment is expected to arrive within two months following which the commissioning process will take place. [ [http://in.news.yahoo.com/241/20080812/1264/tbs-rajasansi-airport-to-update-landing.html Rajasansi airport to update landing system] ]

The airport modernization process is part of the upgrade process of 35 non-metro airports in the country by 2010.

Airlines and destinations

Transport to/from airport

ATQ is well connected to the roads and main highways of Punjab. While private transport in the form of automobiles is the most popular way of reaching the airport, public transport infrastructure (with the exception of taxis) has remained weak. However this is set to change with the Punjab State Government's unveiling of plans to launch regular bus services between the airport and other cities of Punjab. Air India has also unveiled plans to provide regular bus services for its ATQ passengers to and from Jalandhar. The state government has also unveiled plans to build a monorail line to connect the airport with the Golden Temple and the Railway Station in Amritsar.

References

External links

* [http://aai.aero/allAirports/amritsar_generalinfo.jsp Amritsar International Airport] at Airports Authority of India web site
* [http://www.amritsarcarrental.com/ Airport Taxi] - Airport and City Taxi booking service in amritsar.
* [http://www.amritsartravel.com/ Amritsar Travel] - Flight Schedules to Amritsar from Birmingham or London on Jet Airways, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Air India
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