Jaipur International Airport

Jaipur International Airport (IATA: JAI, ICAO: VIJP) is an international airport serving Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. It is located in the southern suburb of Jaipur near Sanganer, which is located 10 km (6.2 mi) from the city of Jaipur. It is the 13th busiest airport in India in daily scheduled flight operations.
The airport was granted the status of international airport on 29 December 2005. The airport's apron can accommodate 14 aircraft, and the new integrated terminal building can handle up to 1,000 passengers at peak hours.
The airport's runway is (09/27) and is 11,178 feet (3,407 m) long. Runway 09/27 became operational from 15 September 2016 to handle bigger aircraft like the Boeing 747 to take off and land from Jaipur Airport after the completion of the runway extension from 9,174 feet (2,796 m) to 11,178 feet (3,407 m) in order to handle Boeing 777s. The runway 09/27 is CAT-IIIB instrument landing system (ILS) compliant. This facilitates the landing of aircraft on a runway visibility range (RVR) of up to 50 metres (160 ft) during fog. Earlier this was 550 metres (1,800 ft), benefiting airlines in terms of increased safety and avoiding diversions to other airports resulting in better operational and environmental efficiency. CAT III B became operational from 8 December 2016. A taxiway has been planned for Jaipur Airport, parallel to runway 09/27 to deal with its air traffic congestion. The work will be completed in the end of May 2018, after the completion the airport will be able to accommodate 16 flights in an hour.
The new domestic terminal building at the airport was inaugurated on 1 July 2009. The new terminal has an area of 22,950 square metres (247,000 sq ft) with facilities such as a central heating system, central air conditioning, an inline x-ray baggage inspection system integrated with the departure conveyor system, inclined arrival baggage claim carousels, escalators, a public address system, a flight information display system, CCTV for surveillance, airport check-in counters with Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE), car parking, etc. The domestic terminal building has a peak hour passenger handling capacity of 500 passengers and an annual handling capacity of 400,000. The entrance gate is made of sandstone and Dholpur stones along with Rajasthani paintings on the walls. To manage the hordes of VIPs who fly in and out of the Pink City, the airport has three VIP lounges to ensure that the visiting guests and commuters do not cause inconvenience to each other. Terminal 2 is spread over twenty three thousand meter square in area and has 14 airport check-in counters and four security counters that can easily accommodate the passenger traffic at the airport and provide them a hassle free experience.
Terminal 1, inactive for passenger flights from July 2012 to October 2024 and primarily used for cargo handling during this period, was reopened on 26 October 2024 as an international terminal. Historically, Terminal 1 had operated international flights until July 2012, after which airport authorities shifted international passenger operations to Terminal 2.
During its inactivity period for passenger flights, Terminal 1 primarily handled cargo operations along with special flights, such as Hajj services. Renovation and modernization of Terminal 1 began in 2018 to alleviate congestion in Terminal 2. The renovated terminal, designed to reflect traditional Rajasthani architecture, expanded to an area of approximately 18,000 square meters and is exclusively used for international arrivals and departures. Terminal 1 lacks a fully integrated baggage handling system. Consequently, baggage must be scanned prior to proceeding to the check-in counter. Additionally, the aircraft parking bays is situated in a remote location from the terminal, resulting in an extended bus ride compared to standard procedures.
Beginning from 16 July 2012, Terminal 1 was closed to passenger traffic and was remodeled to handle solely cargo operations. The cargo terminal is adjacent to the old passenger terminal building and has an area of approximately 700 square metres (7,500 sq ft). The cargo facility is being provided by Rajasthan Small Scale Industries, a public sector undertaking of Government of Rajasthan. To shift the flights to Terminal 1, a part of the cargo operations will have to be shifted there.
The current Terminal 2 will be expanded in a width of around 20 meters on each side. A new hall will be made in the departure area and three conveyor belts will be established in the arrival area with 2 new aerobridges to ease passenger movement. The work will be completed by May. The new departure area is spread in 2,700 square metres while the arrival area was constructed in an area of nearly 23,000 square feet.
A new integrated third terminal with amenities will come up in the following years, with an area seven times larger than Terminal 2, which will negate the need for passenger operations at previous Terminals 1 and 2.
In order to cope with the growing traffic, the airport's traffic will be exceeding from 5 million passengers per year to over 10 million passengers in the next five years. A third terminal is proposed, which will be built on the eastern side of the new terminal, at an area of more than 1.25 lakh square meters. It will be seven times the size of the new terminal and will increase the capacity of the airport further. It is expected to be completed by 2026/27.
In 2016, the Government of Rajasthan planned to construct a new greenfield airport for Jaipur, to facilitate tourism and socio-economic development by increasing foreign arrivals, increasing employment in rural areas, relieve pressure on the existing airport and to reduce dependency on Delhi airport, and selected a site just outside the Jaipur Ring Road at Shivdaspura, located 25 km (16 mi) from the existing airport. The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) finalised the proposal for the acquisition a land area covering about 2,100 hectares in 2017. The new airport project had received in-principle approval from the state government, and the JDA was doing a social impact assessment study, after which the survey for land acquisition was to begin.
Plans for a proposed greenfield airport project near Jaipur, intended to relieve traffic congestion at Jaipur International Airport, were officially scrapped as of May 2023. The Rajasthan government decided instead to develop an economic hub on the land previously earmarked for the airport, citing viability concerns and economic factors.
The airport was declared as the World's Best Airport in the category of 2 to 5 million passengers per annum three consecutive times in 2015, 2016 and 2018 by Airports Council International.
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