Being named after Sri Guru Ram Das Ji, this airport is located at a distance of 11 km from the city. He was the fourth Sikh Guru and the founder of Amritsar city. The arrival terminal of the city was inaugurated in 2005. In March 2006, the departure terminal has been in operation. In 2009, another terminal building was inaugurated. The airport at present have a hold of about 200 commercial flights a week, both international and domestic. In December 2009, Amritsar Airport has become the fastest-growing airport in India. In 1930, The Airstrip of Amritsar Rajasansi Airport was established during the British tenure and this airport was used for VVIP movements. After independence, it got connected with cities like Delhi and Srinagar. First international flight to Kabul was launched in 1960. In 1982, Air India started direct international flight from Amritsar to Birmingham with a stop at Moscow and this flight became so popular that it was termed as no.1 flight for Air India, but Air India stopped its operation at Amritsar Airport due to Operation Blue Star in 1984.
Facilities
Terminal
The arrivals section of the old terminal was inaugurated in September 2005, and the departures section was made operational in March 2006. A new integrated terminal building, built in glass and steel and equipped with modern facilities like an inline X-ray baggage inspection and conveyor system, Flight Information Display System, Common Use Terminal Equipment, and CCTV for surveillance among others, was inaugurated on 25 February 2009, with an area of approximately, marking an improvement over the earlier facility. The new terminal building is a blend of modern and Indian designs, constructed in glass and steel with Indian style arches and colours. For the quarter ending 30 June 2016, the airport registered a 59.6% growth of international passenger traffic. The integrated terminal building has four aerobridges, an annual capacity of 1.46 million passengers with a peak hour capacity of 1,200 passengers. The building has 30 check-in counters, 4 X-ray scanners, 26 immigration counters, 10 custom counters, 12 security check booths, and 4 conveyor belts for arrivals. The apron has been extended to cater for parking of a total of 25 aircraft from the earlier capacity of 15 aircraft and strengthened for parking of Category 'C' type of aircraft. The departure and arrival halls operate duty-free shops. The departure hall also accommodates foreign currency exchange service, a book store, restaurants and other shops for the convenience of departing passengers. The airport registered India's highest passenger growth of over 48% for the year 2017–2018. Currently, the flights coming in the airport connect it direct to over 20 destinations across India and other countries. The Amritsar airport is spread over an area of 40,000 sq. meters with 30 check-in counters, 16 immigration counters, 12 custom counters, and 2 security check booths and can handle 600 passengers at arrival and 600 passengers at departure. IndiGo now operates 49 weekly non-stop flights between Amritsar and Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Srinagar, Guwahati & Dubai along with seamless connections to other cities in the country. There are two terminals – domestic and international.
Terminal 1
This terminal is exclusively for handling the domestic flights and can be accessed through Boarding Gate 2 on ground floor and Boarding Gate 2 on the first floor.
Terminal 2
Terminal 2 This terminal is exclusively for handling the international flights and can be accessed through Boarding Gate 1 on ground floor and Boarding Gate 2 on the first floor.
Runway
The Airport is a CAT III ILS compliant airport. During 2016–17 runway upgrade, the flexible portion runway was strengthened and inset lighting installed for ILS CAT III at a cost of 1.5 billion rupees. On 12 October 2017, the Airports Authority of India issued CAT III-B low visibility procedures for Amritsar Airport allowing landing at 50 m visual range. Before Installation of CAT III ILS,CAT II ILS became operational on 23 December 2011 and reduced the visibility requirement for an aircraft landing at Amritsar Airport on Runway 34 from the existing 650 metres to 350 metres benefiting airlines in increased safety and avoiding diversions to other airports resulting in better operational and environmental efficiency.
Airlines and destinations
Passengers
Cargo
Connectivity
Road
The Airport is connected by 8 lane National Highway 354, which runs from Amritsar to Ajnala. Taxi can be taken from the taxi stand of the airport. Both Ola Cabs and Uber are available in the city. Autos and local buses also connect the city to the airport.
Metrobus
is a rapid transit system running in Amritsar Metropolitan Area. Many locations of the region is covered under Phase 1 of the project and Amritsar Airport is scheduled to be a part of Amritsar MetroBus Network in scheduled expansion under Phase 2 of Network.
