Bathinda Airport

Bathinda Airport

Bhisiana Air Force Station
IATA: BUPICAO: VIBT
Summary
Airport type Civil Enclave
Owner Indian Air Force
Operator Airports Authority of India
Location Bathinda, Punjab, India
Elevation AMSL 662 ft / 201 m
Coordinates 30°16′12″N 74°45′20″E / 30.27000°N 74.75556°E / 30.27000; 74.75556
Map
BUP

Location in India

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
13/31 9,200 2,804 Concrete/Asphalt

Bathinda Airport (IATA: BUP, ICAO: VIBT) is a civil enclave at the Bhisiana Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force. The domestic air terminal is being built near Virk Kalan village, 20 kilometres northwest of Bhatinda, Punjab, India.

The Airports Authority of India has constructed the Bathinda civil enclave at a cost of Rs 25 crore on 42 acres of land. The apron will accommodate two ATR 42 type of aircraft simultaneously while the glass and steel terminal building will feature a VIP lounge, two check-in counters, a 30-seater security hold and two conveyor belts. A parking lot for 25 cars is also being constructed.[1]

Even after its completion since August, 2012, the Bathinda Civil Airport, one of the much- hyped projects, has remained a non-starter, following reluctance of aviation companies to start domestic flights from here. According to information, besides aviation companies, even the Union aviation ministry found the airport 'financially nonviable', after carrying out surveys on different routes - Bathinda-Jammu and Bathinda-Bikaner.

Union Cabinet minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal even went to the extent of saying that "You talk about the airport but even the Bathinda-Delhi Shatabdi Express is getting only 200-250 passengers".

People's Party of Punjab president Manpreet Singh Badal said the government has set its priorities wrongly as no one is interested to invest at Bathinda. He added "For this, the government has to industrialise Bathinda, but, unfortunately, no one is interested to invest in the state due to corruption and other faulty policies."[2]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, December 18, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.