Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport
IATA: GAU ICAO: VEGT
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Owner	Airports Authority of India
Operator	Guwahati International Airport Limited
Serves	Guwahati
Location	Borjhar, Guwahati, Assam, India
Opened	1958
Focus city for	Alliance Air Drukair FlyBig IndiGo
Elevation AMSL	49 m / 162 ft
Coordinates	26°06′22″N 091°35′09″E
Website	Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport
Map
GAU Location of airport in Assam GAU GAU (India)
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 02/20 3,110 10,200 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2022 – March 2023)
Passengers 5,051,480 ( 60.4%) Aircraft movements 45,909 ( 36.7%) Cargo tonnage 22,823 ( 4.4%)
Source: AAI

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (IATA: GAU, ICAO: VEGT) is an international airport serving Guwahati, the largest city of North-East India in Assam, India. It is the primary airport of North-East India, and the 12th busiest airport in India. It is located at Borjhar, 26 km (16 mi) from Dispur, the capital city of Assam and 28 km (18 mi) from Guwahati. It is named after Gopinath Bordoloi, a freedom fighter and the first Chief Minister of Assam after India's independence. The airport is managed by Airports Authority of India and serves as an Indian Air Force base.

History

The airport has undergone numerous expansions and renovations since its establishment in 1958. It handled more than 3.7 million passengers in 2017, an increase of 36% from 2016. The LGB Airport witnessed annual traffic of over 23% in 2018–19 with a total footfall of 5.7 million passengers and 55,066 aircraft movements in the same period.

The existing terminal building at the airport has a maximum handling capacity of 850 arrival/departure passengers per hour.

In 2002, the first international flight operated by Air India from Guwahati to Bangkok, using an Airbus A310 aircraft, becoming the first international airport in the North-East region. However, the flight was withdrawn due to poor passenger load.

In January 2019, Guwahati won bids for two international destinations under the UDAN scheme, with destinations most anticipated being Dhaka and Bangkok-Don Mueang.

In November 2021, Guwahati won bids for six international destinations under the UDAN scheme – Dhaka, Bangkok-Don Mueang, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Yangon.

In February 2019, the airport was given on lease for 50 years to Adani Group at the highest bid of Rs. 160 per passenger.

Currently, international flights in the airport are operated by Drukair from Paro to Singapore, as a connecting flight, and by Thai AirAsia to Bangkok-Don Mueang.

New terminal

To meet the growing demands and rising traffic in the future, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken construction of a second passenger terminal in the northern side of the airport, at a cost of ₹ 1,232 crores.

The new terminal building will be capable of handling 4,300 domestic and 200 international passengers during peak hours and about 10 million passengers annually. It will be equipped with 64 check-in counters, 20 self-check-in kiosks, six baggage counters, in-line baggage security screening systems and ten aerobridges. It will be an energy-efficient building, as it is expected to achieve a Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) 4-star rating, with a solar roofing system for electricity generation, in addition to allowing maximum sunlight into the building. A photovoltaic solar plant with a power generation capacity of 540 kW will be developed at the terminal, along with eco-friendly measures such as a solid waste management system, wastewater treatment facility, rainwater storage facility and underground drainage system. With an area of 1,002,500 sq.m., the terminal will have two levels, consisting of the arrivals area at the lower level and departures area at the upper level. In addition to these two primary floors, there will be two more floors; a mezzanine surface between the two levelswill act as the boarding area of the terminal, and the other part will act as a service floor for the baggage handling system.

The design of the terminal building is inspired by Icarus, the Greek mythological figure who was one of the earliest inspirations of human flight. The airport's roof and the facade will be using a design of origami.

As of 2021, more than 38% of the project work was completed and the new terminal building was scheduled to be ready by June 2022. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in several delays in work due to lack of labour and restrictions, the terminal is now expected to be completed by the end of 2023 or in the first quarter of 2024.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

See also

• Airports in India
• List of busiest airports in India by passenger traffic