Ambani's Jamnagar pre-wedding bash: IAF helped manage 600+ jets in 5 days

The airfield in Jamnagar was designated an international airport for the five-day event celebrating Anant Ambani's engagement with Radhika Merchant

Jamnagar’s tiny airport, which usually catered to about five civilian aircraft a day, rose to the occasion and hosted about 600 flights during the pre-wedding celebration for Mukesh Ambani’s son -- with the help from Indian Air Force.

The Jamnagar airport -- which serves as military airfield -- has a civilian terminal. It sprung to unprecedented traffic during the five-day period between February 23 and March 4.

According to a report by The Hindu, Reliance Group sought assistance from the Defence Secretary to facilitate 24x7 operations at the airfield for the pre-wedding celebration of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant.

Upon the Defence Secretary’s request, the Chief of Air Staff authorised round-the-clock operations at the Jamnagar air base. The airport had reportedly expected around 30-40 aircraft during the event but recorded more than 600 movements, both inbound and outbound, during the main five days of the event.

The airfield, primarily a fighter base, operates in coordination with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for civil aircraft movements. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) manages numerous scheduled and non-scheduled flights alongside regular defence services operations.

Jamnagar, the fifth largest city of Gujarat south of the Gulf of Kutch and home to one of the largest oil refinery and petrochemical complex. The airport was also temporarily designated as an international airport by the AAI.

To facilitate the event, the IAF personnel constructed roads, taxi tracks, and pit stops, allowing smooth flow and efficient offloading of passengers and cargo.

Additionally, the closure of Mumbai airport for non-scheduled flights complicated matters, which necessitated the use of IAF’s technical area to prevent flight safety issues.

The IAF also stepped in to ensure the seamless execution of operations when there were shortages of manpower provided by Reliance.

As earlier reported by Business Standard, airport authority had to set up a temporary Customs, immig­r­ation and quarantine counter, as well as renovate the airport in about 45 days.

The event was attended by high-profile guests such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Sachin Tendulkar. The event even saw Rihanna perform for the couple. Media estimates the global popstar was paid $8-9 million or Rs 66-74 crore for the performance.