[***UPDATE***]: This article has been updated with more information, including details about Jamnagar Airport being declared as an international airport on a temporary basis and stats of flights on 1st March 2024.
Jamnagar Airport is right now handling the highest number of flights in its history. The Ambani family is hosting the pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, Gujarat. As a result, the airport is very busy, with guests from around the world touching down in Jamnagar for what may be the biggest pre-wedding celebration in India. Let’s take a look at this in detail.
At its peak
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant are having their pre-wedding facilities at Reliance Greens in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Jamnagar is a small coastal town on the westernmost tip of Gujarat. The guest list includes billionaires like Bill Gates & Mark Zuckerburg and bollywood celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Shak Rukh Khan, Salman Khan amongst others. Pop singer Rihanna has also been invited to perform at the festivities.
Presently, Jamnagar Airport, the only airport in Gujarat with two runways, is connected to three cities – Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It is connected to Mumbai by a daily nonstop service from Air India while Star Air operates 5-weekly flights to Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This means that the airport has, at the most, three scheduled flights a day.
On 29th February 2024, Jamnagar’s Govardhanpur Airport handled 27 flights. Now, that’s a lot for an airport which only sees three-flights-a-day. For the first time ever, the airport handled nonstop flights from Milan, Italy; Seoul, South Korea & Paris, France.
Pop singer Rihanna arrived in the city directly from Milan, Italy. Two aircraft – a Boeing B767, registered ZS-NEX and a Gulfstream G650ER, registered 9H-649FX – arrived from Milan while another Gulfstream G650ER arrived in the city after completing a flight from Seoul, South Korea. An Airbus A319ACJ aircraft operated a flight from Paris, France.
Ambani’s three private jets, registered VT-DHA, VT-HMA and VT-AKU, ferried celebrities from Mumbai and Delhi. This includes Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, amongst others. Air India Express operated three chartered A320 flights from Mumbai while Star Air operated a Embraer E135 chartered flight from Mumbai.
Today, Air India Express is scheduled to operate another set of three chartered flights from Mumbai to Jamnagar, bringing more guests for the celebrations which are due to begin today.
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All decked up
Jamnagar Airport has been decorated with traditional Gujarati style elements to celebrate the occasion.
There’s even a VIP lounge set up for arriving guests.
1st March 2024
1st March 2024 saw even more flights at Jamnagar Airport. The airport authority said that the airport handled 130 aircraft movements, meaning 65 aircraft arrived and departed.
Bollywood celebrities like Kiara Advani. Siddharth Malhotra, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan amongst others were spotted at Jamnagar Airport. Other guests spotted at the airport include Bill Gates, Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani amongst others.
Air India operated three charter flights from Mumbai – one using Airbus A320 and two using Airbus A321s – with flight number AI1651/652, AI1647/648 and AI1653/654. Star Air also operated two Embraer E175 charter flights from Mumbai. SpiceJet’s cargo arm SpiceXPress operated a cargo flight from Mumbai.
Temporary international status
Jamnagar Airport has been declared as an international airport for 10 days from 25th February 2024 to 5th March 2024, according to The Hindu. The Union government’s Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs have set up a Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facility at the airport.
Jamnagar is a defence airport where the aircraft movements are controlled by the Indian Air Force. The IAF has permitted access to its sensitive “technical” area as well to accommodate the surge in aircraft movements. An airport official said that up to three aircraft are being accommodated in the special technical area at a given time.
To handle the massive inflow of guests, the Airports Authority of India, which handles the Civil Air Terminal at the airport, has expanded the size of its passenger building from 475 square meters to 900 square meters, allowing it to accommodate nearly 360 passengers during peak hours as compared to 180 earlier. An official said that while expansion works were planned much earlier, they were expedited for the event.
The airport authorities have increased the man power as well. 35 housekeeping staff have been added to the existing strength of 16 while the State government has also doubled the deployment of security personnel from 35 to 70. Ground handling agencies have raised the strength of their staff from 65 to 125. Toilets at the airport have been renovated while paintings have been installed inside the terminal.
Similarly, the Indian Air Force has also deployed more military men at the Air Traffic Control tower.
The airport will see usual activity on 2nd and 3rd March 2024. However, 4th March 2024 is expected to be another busy day with guests scheduled to fly out after attending the 3-day event.
Featured image by Justdial
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