Gujarat's Hirasar airport to be ready for operations by March end

The airport at Hirasar in Gujarat's Rajkot district will be ready for operations by the end of this month and will have the longest runway in the state, a senior official said on Saturday.

Landing and other calibration tests began at the facility, located on the outskirts of Rajkot city, on Saturday, he said.

Talking to reporters, district collector Arun Mahesh Babu said the airport has a 3.5-km long runway, which is the longest in Gujarat, and it also has a 700-metre water tunnel below the runway, which is the longest in Asia.

"It is a historic day for Rajkot, as this will be the main airport for the entire Saurashtra region. This can also emerge as the largest airport in Gujarat...The instrument landing checking for the airport began today," Babu said.

Landing and systems calibrations through the air traffic control (ATC) will go on for two days, he said.

"Ninety-nine per cent work is complete. Seven windmills (located in the area) are being removed, and the approach road from the main road will be completed this month. We expect the facility to be ready by the end of March. The process for the DGCA approval is also underway. Once it is approved, the Centre will decide the date for its operation," the collector said.

A temporary terminal with single-luggage transport and checking is ready. It will be used as a cargo terminal in the future. A permanent terminal will be ready by December this year, he said.

The Centre had in 2017 given a green clearance for the airport project at Hirasar, about 28 km from Rajkot, at a cost of more than Rs 1,400 crore.

The new airport was proposed in the district, as the existing one is small and the earlier plan to extend the current runway could not materialise because of high land cost.

The project is built in an area of 1,025.54 hectare, of which 96.48 per cent is government land. It will be a single runway airport for operating 'C' category aircraft, it was stated.