Surat Airport All Set To Get International Status!

People in Surat will be able to fly directly to international destinations in the coming few months.

Surat Airport is all set to become an international airport thanks to the central government giving the airport a customs notified status.

On 8^th June 2018, The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs gave Surat Airport the status of a customs airport, which allows an airport to operate international flights, under the Customs Act 1962.

Back in 2016, the Airports Authority of India(AAI) had asked the central government to give Surat Airport a customs notified status and finally after 18 months they have gone ahead and agreed upon it.

Recently the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujrat, Mr. Nitin Patel, in his budget speech said that he has set aside Rs 1 Crore for setting up immigration facilities at the airport. The home department of the Gujrat Government has already asked the Director General of Police(DGP) to allot 68 immigration staff members at the airport for the financial year 2018-19.

Air India Express has shown interest in starting flights from Surat to Dubai. In fact, Mr. K Shyam Sundar, CEO of Air India Express, had visited the airport last year to inspect the terminal building, runway and other facilities available at the airport.

He said that the airline is keen to launch its flights to Dubai, provided they extend their runway to 2905 meters and get a customs notified status from the government.

Mr Sundar and his team also met members of the social group(working towards increasing connectivity at the airport) and tours & travel association to discuss about the potential of international flight services from Surat.

According to the association, almost 5 lakh people have travelled from Surat and south Gujrat to international destinations in 2017-2018.They also said that the air passenger traffic at the airport has been on the rise and is continuously increasing by 20-25 percent every year.