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Kolhapur Airport
IATA: KLH ICAO: VAKP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Airports Authority of India
Operator	Director of Kolhapur Airport
Serves	Kolhapur
Location	Ujlaiwadi, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India
Opened	1987; 37 years ago (1987)
Elevation AMSL	1,988 ft / 606 m
Coordinates	16°39′53″N 074°17′22″E / 16.66472°N 74.28944°E / 16.66472; 74.28944
Website	Kolhapur Airport
Map
KLHLocation in MaharashtraShow map of MaharashtraKLHKLH (India)Show map of India
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 07/25 6,332 1,930 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024)
Passengers 160,200 ( 24.4%) Aircraft movements 3,174 ( 16.3%) Cargo tonnage —
Source: AAI

Kolhapur Airport (IATA: KLH, ICAO: VAKP), officially named as Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Airport, is a domestic airport serving the city of Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. It is situated at Ujlaiwadi, 9 km (5.6 mi) southeast from the city. It is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

History

The present Kolhapur Airport began operations in the year 1987 and was leased by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) from Airports Authority of India (AAI) on 16 April 1997. The lease expired in February 2012 and the MIDC requested the state government in May 2012 to be relieved of the responsibility of managing the airport. The Maharashtra Government then handed over the airport to the AAI in August 2013.

The airport was closed for repairs by order of the DGCA on 16 June 2010, after the runway surface was found to be unsafe in the monsoons. Due to the closure, flights into Kolhapur were temporarily suspended. DGCA gave its approval for re-opening of the airport in April 2011 after MIDC repaired the 1,370 metre long and 50 metre wide runway. MIDC also added facilities like closed circuit television system, baggage scanner, door-frame, hand-held metal detectors, and guide lights along the airstrip at a total cost of ₹ 6 crore. Kingfisher Airlines resumed commercial flights on 10 June 2011. The service to Mumbai was suspended in November 2011 when the airline pulled out of several towns citing financial losses. After a closure of six years, scheduled commercial operations at the airport resumed in April 2018 with Air Deccan launching its first flight to Mumbai under the UDAN scheme.

In March 2018, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed a resolution recommending the central government to rename the airport as ‘Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Airport' after the member of the erstwhile royal family of Kolhapur. The First Airport Director (Kamal Kumar Kataria), was appointed on 13 December 2018 by Airports Authority of India, for purposes of the airport's development. Since 14/9/2022 Anil Haribhau Shinde is serving as the Airport Director under whose lead the new Terminal Building has been operational. Other developments include installation of Navigation Aids DVOR/DME and operations from new ATC Tower.

Expansion

The airport is undergoing a massive rebuild, making it capable of handling Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 aircraft. The foundation stone for a new terminal building and an ATC tower was laid by the former Union Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu in February 2019. The new terminal complex is built at a cost of ₹ 71 crore and cover an area of 3,900 square metres. It have 10 check-in counters, and a peak hour handling capacity of 300 passengers. Along with this, the runway length is being extended to 2,300 metres, a new combined Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, a fire and rescue building, and expanding its apron and related equipment are included. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has acquired 223 hectares of adjoining land in five villages at the cost of ₹ 240 crore for this purpose. The new terminal has been under construction since 2019, and is expected to be completed by early 2024.

As of April 2021, the runway has been lengthened from 1,370 to 1,930 metres to the east of the airport, and an additional 64 acres near to state highway 277 is acquired to further extend to the full 2,300 metres. Installation of night landing facilities at the airport was completed on the runway in late 2021.

The airport has been facilitated with aviation fuel facility, which means that the aircraft landing here will have the facility to refuel while on halt. The facility, according to experts, will help in carrying more passenger load, which eventually will help both the airlines as well as the passengers. The facility was provided by Hindustan Petroleum, and will henceforth remain available on a permanent basis. Earlier, the limited availability of the fuel restricted the number of passengers on board an aircraft to some extent. However, that would not be the case any more. With the availability of aviation fuel, the number of passengers will increase.

The airport is presently connected with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Tirupati, with daily and weekly flights provided by IndiGo and low-cost airline Star Air. More airlines and routes will join in the coming years once the runway length will be extended to 2,300 meters.

New Terminal

A new terminal building was inaugurated on 10 March 2024 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and began operations on 29 March 2024.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

See also

• List of airports in Maharashtra

References

1. "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
2. "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
3. "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
4. "Kolhapur Airport" (PDF). Airport Authority of India. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
5. "Kolhapur airport renamed 'Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Airport'". Hindustan Times. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
6. "Need for taking over of Kolhapur Airport by Airport Authority of India". XIV Lok Sabha. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
7. "MIDC not interested in Kolhapur airport operations". Sakaal Times. 10 May 2012. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
8. "Maha govt sanctions Rs80 crore for Kolhapur airport expansion". DNA. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
9. "AAI planning flexible use of Kolhapur airport". The Times of India. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
10. "Kolhapur airport reopens after a year". Daily Bhaskar. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
11. "Kingfisher announces new flights". Kingfisher Airlines Media Center. 11 July 2011.
12. "Kingfisher suspends Kolkata flights". Business Standard. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
13. "Kolhapur airport reopens after six years with flights connecting the city to Mumbai". The Times of India. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
14. "Air Deccan launches 90-minute Mumbai to Kolhapur flights under UDAN". Pune Mirror. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
15. "Maharashtra's Kolhapur airport may be renamed as '[Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Airport]'". Financial Express. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
16. "Kolhapur to become a cargo hub". Sakal Times. 3 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
17. "Kolhapur Airport to get a new terminal building, ATC tower! Boost for UDAN flights to Mumbai, Bengaluru". Financial Express. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
18. "Extension of runway with blast pad, RESA, Taxiway, Apron, GSE Area" (PDF).
19. "Kolhapur Airport to get a new terminal building, ATC tower! Boost for UDAN flights to Mumbai, Bengaluru". Financialexpress. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
20. "Kolhapur Airport to get new terminal building with enhanced capacity and world-class facilities". Punekar News. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
21. "Dgca Team In Kolhapur To Inspect Night Landing Facility". The Times of India. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
22. "Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurates direct flights between Kolhapur and Mumbai". Orissa Diary. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
23. "New Flights-IndiGo Air".
24. "Jyotiraditya Scindia flagged off direct daily flight between Kolhapur-Bengaluru". Orissa Diary. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
25. "IndiGo to commence Ahmedabad-Kolhapur service in Feb-2021".
26. "कोल्हापूरकरांसाठी खूशखबर; Kolhapur-Nagpur विमानसेवेला 17 ऑगस्टपासून सुरुवात" [Good news for Kolhapurkars; Kolhapur-Nagpur flight starts from 17 August] (in Marathi).
27. "Star Air Expands Services with New Flights Between Kolhapur and Mumbai". Star Air. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.

• "By 2020, Nashik likely to be one of India's busiest airports". Freepressjournal. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

External links

• Kolhapur City Airline Enquiry

v t e Kolhapur district topics
History	Battle of Kolhapur Kolhapur State Panhala Fort Shahu IV of Kolhapur
Geography	Panchganga River Chitri Dam Kudnur Dam Radhanagari Dam Tillari (Forebay) Dam Tillari (Main) Dam
Cities and towns	Ajara Uttur Chandgad Gadhinglaj Halkarni Hatkanangale Harali Ichalkaranji Jaysingpur Kadgaon Kagal Kolhapur Mahagaon, Gadhinglaj Mugruwadi Murgud Nesari Shirol
Transport	Amba Ghat Kolhapur Airport MH SH 134 NH 48 NH 166
Visitor attractions	Bhavani Mandap Jyotiba Temple Khasbag Wrestling Stadium Kumbhoj Mahalakshmi Temple Narsobawadi Rajarampuri Rankala Lake Shalini Palace Shree Chhatrapati Shahu Museum Siddhagiri Gramjivan Museum
Culture	Kolhapuri chappal Maharashtra Film Company Veg kolhapuri
Education	D. Y. Patil College of Engineering and Technology Private High School Kolhapur R.C.S.M. Govt Medical College and CPR Hospital Rajaram College St. Xavier's School Shivaji University Vidyapeeth Highschool
Lok Sabha constituencies	Hatkanangle ‡ Kolhapur
Vidhan Sabha constituencies	Hatkanangle ‡ Hatkanangale Ichalkaranji Shahuwadi Shirol Kolhapur Chandgad Kagal Karvir Kolhapur North Kolhapur South Radhanagari
Taluka/Tehsil	Gadhinglaj Shirol
Stadiums	Rajarshi Shahu Stadium Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium Khasbag Wrestling Stadium
‡ This constituency also has portions in Sangli district See also Districts of Maharashtra

• Airports in Maharashtra
• Transport in Kolhapur
• Buildings and structures in Kolhapur
• 1987 establishments in Maharashtra
• Airports established in 1987
• 20th-century architecture in India