Bokaro Airport
Bokaro Airport (IATA: none, ICAO: VEBK) is a domestic airport owned by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The airport is located in Sector 12, approximately 4.1 km (2.5 mi) from the city centre.[2] The airport was included in the UDAN regional connectivity scheme and will start its commercial operations from June 2023.[3]
Bokaro Airport | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Owner | Steel Authority of India Limited | ||||||||||
Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
Serves | Bokaro | ||||||||||
Location | Bokaro, Jharkhand, India | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 218 m / 715 ft | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 23°38′36″N 86°08′56″E | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
VEBK Location of the airport in Jharkhand VEBK VEBK (India) | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
|
History
The airport was built in the late 1960s to handle private flights for operations of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). It began operating as a private airport until 2010. In the mid-2010s, the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Raghubar Das drafted a plan to develop this airport to handle scheduled commercial flights.[4] For this, he and the former Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, jointly laid the foundation for the airport's expansion.[5] The development work included resurfacing and strengthening of the existing runway, apron, taxiways, including grading of the operational area, along with the provision of expendable low-cost terminal building, installation of Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, ESS building, watch tower, night landing facilities on the runway and other ancillary works which are now almost completed.
Features
The airport is spread over an area of 200 acres where its terminal building is being built over an area of 3,500 square metres (0.86 acres), while the runway is 2,100 meters long and 30 metres wide.[6] It is being built at a cost of ₹ 75 crore by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), and will be managed by the BSL once it is commissioned for commercial operations.
Infrastructure
The boundary wall of the airport from Sector 12 is completed. After completion of boundary wall, a perimeter road was constructed. Other works including the runway, terminal building, access road, drainage system and passenger lodges have been completed in the expansion work being done for commercial air service from the airport. At least 6000 trees were axed, while over 1000 trees were transplanted for the expansion of the airport. With an investment of ₹ 8 crore, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower was built by Airports Authority of India (AAI), and the advantage of this tower is that it is a mobile tower which can be moved at any location while its height is also adjustable, according to the requirements.[7]
See also
References
- "Airport codes Bokaro". airportsbase.org.
- "UDAN flights from Bokaro soon". The Pioneer.
- Mishra, Subhash (31 January 2023). "Jharkhand: Bokaro airport braces for commercial operations from June". Lagatar. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- "CM lays Bokaro airport foundation". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- "Bokaro soon to land on aviation map of country". www.dailypioneer.com.
- "MLA takes stock of facilities, preparations at Bokaro Airport". The Pioneer. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- "Air Traffic Control tower installed at Bokaro Airport". The Pioneer. Retrieved 26 October 2022.