Surat Airport

Surat Airport was built by the state government of Gujarat in early 1970s. The first airline to operate was Safari Airways (owned by Vijaypat Singhania of Raymonds group) with flights to Bombay and Bhavnagar with small aircraft, most probably a Douglas DC-3 Dakota in the early 1970s, which was eventually discontinued in a year or two. During the 1990s, Vayudoot and Gujarat Airways flew to Surat Airport, but discontinued their flights in May 1994 and January 2000, respectively. The airport, with a 1,400-metre (4,600 ft) airstrip and an adjoining 60 by 40 metres (200 ft × 130 ft) apron was then transferred to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2003, who began to modernise the airport.[7] After a failed initial attempt in July 2004 to connect Surat with Mumbai and Bhavnagar due to poor airport infrastructure,[8] the now defunct airline Air Deccan operated an ATR 42 aircraft daily from November 2004 to July 2005.[9]

In 2007, the airport's 1,400-metre long runway was extended to 2,250 metres, to enable landing of larger aircraft. Subsequently, commercial services resumed on 6 May 2007 with an Indian Airlines Airbus A319 flight to Delhi flagged off by Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel at 12:40 IST.[10] However, in October 2007, the runway was reportedly damaged due to poor quality of work during its extension.[11] As a result, a limitation was imposed on the runway to not allow more than two operations of aircraft having weight of over 75,000 kilograms up to its rated capacity of 80,000 kg until the runway was repaired.[12] In 2009, the AAI announced that the airport required 864 hectares of land, and the Gujarat government had allocated such land for the development. Planned improvements at the airport included a capacity to handle up to seven jets at a time and extending the runway to 3,810 meters. The extension work of the runway was to have begun in 2009.[13] The November 2014 collision of a buffalo with a SpiceJet Boeing 737 prompted the AAI to address the safety issues at the airport and extend the runway from 2,250 metres to 2,905 metres at a cost of Rs. 500 million.[12] The runway extension and repair was taken up in three phases. In the first phase, the runway was extended by 655 metres.[14] The adjoining concrete apron measures 235 by 90 metres, and is linked by two taxiways to its sole runway that is oriented 04/22, is 2,250 metres long and 45 metres wide, which has already been extended to 2,905 metres in 2017. The airfield is equipped with night landing facilities and an instrument landing system (ILS) as well as navigational facilities like DVOR/DME and an NDB. [15]

Surat Airport arrival area

An Alliance Air ATR 72 flight

A division bench of the Gujarat High Court came down heavily on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) for not taking action against structures near the Surat airport in violation of law, posing serious safety concerns.[19]

Directing the authorities to file action taken reports and latest status reports by the next date of hearing, the court said on August 2, “else personal responsibility will be fixed” on the officials concerned and they will be asked to make cash security deposits from their personal funds.[19]

In a 2019 public interest litigation, party-in-person citizen Vishwas Bhambhurkar had highlighted that illegal constructions were permitted around the Surat airport, violating norms and requested such structures be evacuated and demolished.[19]

The court observed, “…it appears that the responsible authorities of different departments, instead of taking concrete action, have tried to pass the buck and present a picture before the court that they have given notices to offending builders and parties for demolishing under 1994 rules and are engaged in the process of giving personal hearing for the last three years… Similarly, the Surat Municipal Corporation also seems to have rest contended only with giving of Notices to builders who violated the norms…”[19]

The bench directed that DGCA to file the latest status report and an affidavit of the highest authority in Delhi, along with an ‘Action Taken Report’. “It is made clear that giving of notices and delaying the proceedings in the name of giving personal hearings will not be appreciated much by this court in the present PIL jurisdiction,” the court order added.[19]

The SMC was also directed to produce the latest status report and action taken report against the offending buildings “as air safety in the Surat airport appears to be of supervening public importance and public interest”. “…the issues raised in this PIL cannot be brushed under the carpet…,” the order notes.[19]

The court observed that the Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions Caused by Buildings and Trees Etc.) Rules 1994 grants the government authorities ample powers to take suitable action in the matter and clarified that the court is thus granting a “last opportunity” to the authorities to file its reports before the next date of hearing on August 12.[19]

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