Gorakhpur Airport

Gorakhpur Airport
IATA: GOP ICAO: VEGK
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Owner	Indian Air Force
Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Gorakhpur
Location	Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Elevation  AMSL	79 m / 259 ft
Coordinates	26°44′22″N83°26′58″E / 26.73944°N 83.44944°E / 26.73944; 83.44944
Map
GOP Show map of Uttar Pradesh GOP Show map of India
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 11/29 9,000 2,743 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024)
Passengers 680,203 ( 19.1%) Aircraft movements 5,510 ( 18.6%) Cargo tonnage —
Source: AAI [1] [2] [3]

Gorakhpur Airport( IATA : GOP, ICAO : VEGK) (proposed to rename Mahayogi Gorakhnath Airport) ^{[4] [5]} is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base serving the city of Gorakhpur, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) operates it as a civil enclave at the Air Force base. The airport is located 8 km (5.0 mi) from the city centre. The airport covers an area of 0.71 acres (0.29 ha). In June 2017, the passenger terminal was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. It is the third busiest airport in Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow International Airport and Varanasi International Airport in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movements. ^[6]

Air Force Station Gorakhpur

The airport is one of the bases of the Indian Armed Forces (IAF), which operates under Central Air Command of the Indian Air Force. IAF operates No. 16 Squadron IAF, No. 27 Squadron IAF and No. 105 Helicopter Unit from here. These squadrons have regular military exercises; other than this, they actively take part in rescue operations. SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft and Mil Mi-17 helicopters are based here. ^[7]

According to a May 2024 report, the air base is being upgraded for the joint deployment of MQ-9B drones of Indian Army and Indian Air Force along with Sarsawa AFS. ^[8]

Infrastructure

Front view of the airport's terminal

The airport has one runway, designated 11/29, and has dimensions of 2,743 by 46 metres (9,000 ft × 150 ft). The existing terminal can handle 200 passengers in peak hours, and has an area of 23,500 sq.ft. ^{[9] [10]}

On 28 March 2021, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath laid the foundation stone for the extension of the existing terminal building at a cost of ₹26.87 crore, which will be spread in an area of 3,440 sq.m. ^{[11] [12]} Equipped with two conveyor belts in the arrival hall, 10 check-in-counters, escalators, lifts, restaurant and an additional security holding area in the first floor, the extended terminal building will be able to handle the 200 passengers during peak hours. ^[12]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Akasa Air [13]	Bangalore, Delhi [14]
Alliance Air	Delhi
IndiGo	Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai [15]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at GOP airport. See Wikidata query.

Future

Due to limited expansion options available, and restrictions enforced by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the airport will not be able to cope with the growing demand for future air traffic. Hence, a new greenfield airport at an area of 300 acres has been proposed on near NH-24 and also near the under-construction Gorakhpur Link Expressway. ^[16]

See also

• Airports in India
• List of the busiest airports in India

References

1. "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
2. "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
3. "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
4. Purkayastha, Shorbori (19 April 2017). "Yogi Govt Renames Gorakhpur and Agra Airports". TheQuint. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
5. "Aviation in India: These airports set to be renamed". Zee Business. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
6. Airports by Passenger Traffic, 2023-24 (PDF) (Report). Airports Authority of India . Retrieved 20 April 2024.
7. "IAF's Jaguar fighter plane crashes in UP's Kushinagar, pilot ejects safely". The Hindustan Times . 28 January 2019. The crash happened barely 15 minutes after it took off from Gorakhpur air base along with two other Jaguars for routine exercise.
8. "Indian Army, IAF to jointly deploy Predator drones in Gorakhpur, Sarsawa air bases". ANI News. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
9. "Gorakhpur". Airports Authority of India . 10 September 2016. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
10. PTI (3 September 2018). "Suresh Prabhu inaugurates new domestic terminal building at Gorakhpur Airport". Business Standard India. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
11. "Adityanath lays foundation stone to extend terminal building at Gorakhpur airport". The Hindu. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
12. "Gorakhpur Airport terminal building all set for expansion. Details inside". ETNow. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
13. "Akasa Air Flight Network". Akasa Air. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
14. Zafar, Imran (14 April 2024). "Akasa Air Introduces New Flights To Connect Gorakhpur To Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad And Bengaluru". Jagran Josh. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
15. "New Flights Information, Status & Schedule | IndiGo". www.goindigo.in.
16. "New Gorakhpur Airport". Gorakhpur. 15 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.