Hisar Airport

Hisar Airport, officially known as Maharaja Agrasen International Airport is a DGCA-licensed public airport serving Hisar in Haryana state of India. It is located 5 km northeast of the city center on NH-9. The airport is planned to be upgraded to an international airport by 2030. It will eventually see the development of a new MRO, aerospace university, aerospace and defense manufacturing industrial zone, logistics and food parks, etc. over an area spread across 10000 acre. In 2021, the total cost of planned upgrade in 3 phases, including the actual spend and future approved allocations, is nearly ₹5,200 crore ($700 million).

Hisar Airport is 165 km west of national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport, 255 km northwest of Noida International Airport and 280 km southwest of state capital's Chandigarh International Airport.

Hisar is a National Capital Region Counter Magnet City (NCR CMC) on the 'Hisar-Narnaul Industrial Sub-corridor' of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project. Under the National Capital Region Transport Plan, Hisar International Airport and Noida International Airport are being developed as an alternate within NCR to national capital Delhi's IGI Airport.

Location
Hisar is a Counter Magnet City within the National Capital Region inside the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project (DMIC). The main gate of the airport will be relocated to Hisar–Barwala–Chandigarh NH 52.

Hisar Airport lies in the north of Hisar city. Nearest airports are Sirsa Air Force Station 84 km or 45 nautical miles northwest, Bhiwani Airport 56 km or 30 nautical miles southeast, IGI Delhi International Airport 152 km or 82.1 nautical miles southeast, and Chandigarh International Airport 193 km or 104 NM northeast. Nearest railway station is Hisar Junction railway station 2.9 km south, nearest defence area is Hisar Military Station 7 km east, nearest university is GJUST 50 metre across the highway in south, nearest protected forests are Hisar Deer Park and Shatavar Vatika Herbal Park both abutting the airport.

History
In 1948, first airstrip was built in Haryana when Ambala Air Force Station was established.

In 1965, construction of 194 acre Hisar airfield commenced, which was completed in 1967 and it became operational in the same year.

In 1970–71, a privately managed air service was introduced on Delhi–Patiala–Hisar–Delhi route, which was terminated after a period of 6 months due to lack of financial viability.

In 1999, Hisar Aviation Club was merged with Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation (HICA). The airport is managed by HICA, which provides flight training using light aircraft. In 2002, the Delhi Flying Club (DFC) shifted all its flying activities and aircraft to Hisar from Safdarjung Airport in Delhi.

In May 2017, the Taj International Airport, at Jewar (56 km from Noida) in Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, was granted approval by the union government cabinet as the second airport for the NCR, to be built by 2022–23 with a capacity to handle 3-5 crore (30-50 million) passengers per year. Politicians of Haryana protested against this decision for ignoring Hisar airport for the development.

On 27 Sept 2018, Hisar became Haryana's first DGCA licensed airport.

In September 2019, SpiceJet training academy at Hisar airport was announced, which will train 100 pilots every year.

On 13 January 2021, Hisar officially became 54th UDAN airport when the first ever Hisar-Chandigarh flight took wings under the UDAN scheme. The flight was operated by the "Aviation Connectivity & Infrastructure Developers Pvt. Ltd" under the brand name the "Air Taxi"' which was awarded the Hisar-Chandigarh-Hisar route under the UDAN scheme. One way fare was ₹1,674. Air Taxi India flies Tecnam P2006T on Hisar-Chandigarh route daily.

On 26 July 2021, Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, announced that the airport will be named after the Maharaja Agrasen. It has been renamed as the Maharaja Agrasen International Airport. This will boost tourism to religious and archaeological sites of Agroha Dham and Agroha Mound respectively.

In April 2024, Vensa Infrastructure was declared as the lowest bidder for the construction of the new integrated terminal building, cargo terminal, ATC tower cum technical block, fire station building with fire control tower including ancillary buildings like office building, maintenance building, security building and sub-station.

Airport features
The features of airport after the upgrade including runway extension are as follows: Hisar Airport's new terminal building by Airports Authority of India (AAI) will spread across an area of 37,970 square metres. It has been designed to handle 1000 peak hour passengers. The terminal will be equipped with 3 aerobridges with a provision for two more in the future, and 4 baggage-claim belts. It will be built by Vensa Infrastructure.
 * Terminal


 * Runway
 * Runways count: 1 existing and 1 future.
 * Runway-1 existing: will have a passenger terminal-1 building in its north with TERI's GRIHA green building certification. As of 2021, there are HICA facilities and small airport building to runway's south.
 * Runway-2 future: Runway-2 will be parallel and north of runway-1. Runway-2 will have a passenger terminal-2 building in its south. Passenger buildings of runway 1 and 2 will face each other with a common access road in the middle. Under the access road will be an underground high-speed train station connected to both passenger terminal 1 and 2 via underground tunnel which will also connect to the bus station.
 * Runway Dimension: 3000m x 60m
 * Runway strip dimension: 3120m x 280m optical landing system (OLS) area
 * Runway orientation: 12/30
 * Runway aircraft suitability: ICAO Code-C aircraft (mid range aircraft)
 * Air navigation equipment
 * Navigational signal: DVOR, compass rose and wind rose
 * Instrument Landing System (ILS): CAT III night landing facilities with <30 m (100 ft) decision height and > 200 m (700 ft) runway visual range (RVR)
 * ATC to be built
 * Runway edge lights (REL): Yes
 * Approach Lighting System (ALS): Yes
 * Airport operations
 * Aircraft operations type: both scheduled and non-scheduled
 * Aircraft operations flight volume: estimated 20 flights per day
 * Passengers Per Year (PPY): estimated 30 lakh (3 million) PAX
 * Passengers Peak Hour (PPH): 500 PAX
 * Employment: 1,000 direct and 5,000 indirect
 * Other
 * Aerodrome Reference Code (ARC): 3C
 * Development phases: I, II, and III (A, B, C)
 * Total Land Area (TLA): over 10,000 acres

Land for airport
The airport is being developed on more than 7200 acre land. The 4200 acre Beed Hisar land contiguous to the existing airstrip was transferred to the airport in June 2017. Additional 3000 acre contiguous land of Government Livestock Farm in the Talwandi Rana village, next to Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, was also transferred to the airport for developing the commercial, industrial and hospitality zone of integrated aerocity. This 3000 acre land around Talwandi Rana Minor Canal lies between Hisar–Barwala–Chandigarh NH–52, Delhi–Hisar–Sirsa NH–9 and Hisar Northern bypass.

Three phases
The Government of Haryana, had initially forwarded a proposal to the Central government as a greenfield international airport project. However, since such proposals required approvals like site clearance, the proposal was withdrawn. Instead, a proposal for upgrading the existing brownfield (existing) airport was forwarded to the centre. In 2016, Frost and Sullivan completed a feasibility study for the development of an integrated aviation hub including an international airport in 3 phases.

Phase-wise funding

 * Phase-I: inr 3000000000, from 2016–17 to 2018–19 cumulative total spend by Haryana government.
 * Phase-II: inr 8850000000
 * Phase-III
 * Phase-III-A - International airport: inr 5720000000
 * Phase-III-B - Integrated hub: inr 13900000000
 * Phase-III-C - Integrated hub: inr 18110000000

Chronology of funding

 * 2020–21 financial year
 * inr 260000000, in 2020–21 by the central government, through AAI, for upgrade to the interim civil aviation operations including new terminal building, hangars, strengthening of the runway, installation of night-flying equipment, ATC, and security equipment.
 * inr 1600000000, in 2020–21 haryana budget allocation for runway expansion, apron and 23 metre wide taxiway.
 * inr 9460000000 2021-22 till 2023-24 3-year total allocation was approved by the Haryana govt in 2021 for the basic infrastructure upgrade to phase-III international airport.

Phase-I: UDAN domestic airport – completed
The airport was upgraded for domestic flights under the Government of India's UDAN scheme with technical collaboration with AAI, which was completed by December 2018, The upgrade included new terminal building, 3 hangars, strengthening of runway, installation of night flying equipments, perimetre flood lights, security equipments and arrangements, widening of approach road to four lanes, etc., with a cumulative total of more than inr 3000000000 allocation from the Haryana Government during the 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19 state budgets.

Phase-I is complete after environment clearance was obtained, and domestic flights started for Chandigarh, Dhramshala, Jammu and Dehradun.

Phase-II: MRO & cargo hub and runway extension - completion by Oct 2023
Phase-II entails development of passenger and cargo terminal buildings, runway, taxiways and aprons system, airfield lighting system, air traffic control (ATC) tower, airport support facilities, domestic cargo building, staff accommodation, fire station, building for security staff, maintenance building, aircraft parking, public parking, utilities and infrastructure including roads, 32 kv electrical substation and power supply system, and aircraft support facilities such as refuelling, repairs and overhaul, ground support, and catering etc. at an investment of ₹946 crore and will handle 35 lakh (3.5 million) passengers per annum. A 12,000 sqm car park opposite terminal building for 250 cars. The runway will be extended from 4000 ft to 10000 ft to accommodate turboprop aircraft (such as the ATR 72) and jets (such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320), for sub-basing parking hub operations of airlines, Maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) and defence manufacturing.

Status as of July 2021 is as follows:

Note: Revised deadline for completion of the following work related to MRO & Cargo Hub, airstrip ectension, boundary wall, taxi ways and bays, night and fog landing runway lights, etc. is March 2023, and upgraded airport will become operational 8 March 2023 (as per Aug-Sept 2022 updates by govt).


 * construction/extension of runway and apron from 1,200 m (4,000 ft) to 3,000 m (10,000 ft) wa underway in 3 places due to 2 road highways cutting through the airport, it will be completed by May 2022. ₹160 crore work was in progress, of which digging and sand filling work was 90% complete.
 * CAT III night landing facilities
 * ATC to be built
 * Hangars
 * Fixed base operation (FBO)
 * Small scale MRO hub.
 * Defence manufacturing and defence MRO
 * Domestic cargo infra
 * Raipur rail sliding for cargo and passengers

Three sub-phases - completion by 2024, 2027, 2030
Starting from fy 2021–22, this phase will be completed in three sub-phases with the planned initial investment for each phase as follows:


 * Phase-III-A - International airport terminal & facilities expansion, ₹572+750 crore, 2yrs, 31 March 2024: Facilities expansion fund of ₹572 crore was allocated in 2022 which entails upgrade required for the international airport operation such as runway extension and allied facilities, Differential GPS and night landing facilities, etc. to be completed in 2 years by October 2023. International Terminal-1's conch-shaped design has been finalised and DPR (detailed project report) is being prepared after which tenders will be invited, thereafter construction will take 2 and 1/2 years with likely completion date by March 2027 (update as of June 2023).
 * Phase-III-B - integrated hub, ₹1,390 crore, 2-5 yr, 31 March 2024-27: Fund of ₹1,390 crore has been allocated which entails upgrade for aero city, logistics hub and connectivity, etc. Starting from fy 2021-22 it will be completed in 2 to 5 years ending some time between 31 March 2024 to 27 31 March 2024.
 * Phase-III-C - Integrated hub, ₹1,811 crore, 6-10 yrs, 31 March 2028-30: Fund of ₹1,811 crore has been allocated which entails upgrade required for the expansion of commercial, industrial and residential activities. Starting from fy 2021-22 it will be completed in 6 to 10 years ending some time between 31 March 2028 to 31 March 2030.

Phase-III-A: International airport - completion by 31 March 2024
On 28 Feb 2018, Civil Aviation minister announced that Hisar will become India's largest international airport, feasibility report of which was already complete, AAI had submitted the proposal for upgrade work to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Based on AAI's DPR (detailed project report), tenders were issued in 2019 for developing the phase-III International Aviation Hub scope of which also includes runway extension. Airport will also have the Aerospace Manufacturing, Aviation Training Centre and Aviation University, International Airport and Commercial and Residential Aerotropolis as separate projects and DPRs.

Status as of July 2021 is as follows:
 * Phase-III - was planning and DPR was done by AAI through TCS
 * International airport
 * Aerospace manufacturing
 * Aviation training centre and university
 * Airport commercial and residential zone construction
 * Bulk drug park
 * Medicity on 500 acre
 * Separate but integrated specialised hubs and buildings for the tourism, agriculture, animal husbandry, aircraft industry, big pharma companies, radar, film city.

Phase-III-B & C : International airport - completion by 31 March 2027 and 31 March 2030
Starting from fy 2021–22, this phase will take 2 to 5 years to complete by 31 May 2024 to 31 May 2027

Aerospace and Defence Technology University - completion by TBD
There already are government and commercial flight training institutes, and an aerospace university will also be opened.


 * Government flight training institute: Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation (HICA), run by Haryana govt, has been already operating at Hisar for several decades. As of 2018, it had one four-seater Cessna-172 R and one two-seater Cessna 152 FA aircraft, 2 hangars (85 ft x 72 ft and 96 ft x 70 ft) dedicated to HICA aircraft, 530 sqm administration block, VIP Lounge, 170 sqm hostel for aviation and security staff, one 65 sqm dormitory for aviation and security staff, control tower, 400 sqm training complex with one classroom and one library.
 * Commercial flight training institute: In 2019, SpiceJet announced that they will establish a flight training academy at Hisar airport with 10 training aircraft which will train and produce 100 new Commercial Pilot Licence holders (CPL) every year. 10% students, including 4% girls, with Haryana domicile will get 50% waiver on the tuition fee. SpiceJet will place 70% of the 100 pilot trainees within its own organisation.
 * Hisar Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing University will be established at the airport zone.

Integrated commercial and industrial hub
The industrial hub will be integrated with the aerocity and it will be undertaken as one integrated project which will have several sub-projects in Phase-II, such as aerocity, logistics park, food park, defence and aerospace manufacturing hub, etc. Following have been approved or proposed. Haryana government was actively pursuing with the private and public sector companies to set up their base in the Hisar integrated aviation industrial park.

Aerocity Airport commercial and residential zone
Hisar Aerocity is the planned airport commercial and residential zone which includes range of hotels, office space, malls, retail, trading, wide range of commercial and professional services including third party cargo and passenger services, etc. This will be located to the west and southwest of the runway-1.

Aerospace and defence manufacturing - completion by TBD
In October 2019, the discussions for the manufacturing plant for special alloy commenced between the Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar and India's Minister of Defence.

Food Park at Hisar (FPH) - completion by TBD
Mega Food Parks are approved by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) which provides grants up to ₹50 crores for each food park to a consortium of companies. Two mega food parks for Haryana, at Sonipat and Rohtak, have been approved by MOFPI. Haryana government is in the process of planning and preparing DPR for food park at Hisar.

MRO hub - completion by TBD
In 2018, an MoU was signed with Spice Jet for development of MRO hub at Hisar. In October 2019, Haryana govt has made offers to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Air Force IAF) and Indian Army (IA) to commence MRO at Hisar for their helicopters and planes.

Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLP Hisar) - completion by TBD
Hisar airport will also be developed as cargo airport, dry port with double-rack railway sliding, as well as multi-model transport hub with space of large trucks. DPR for double-tracks of broad gauge rail from Raipur railway halt to airport dry port area was ready in August 2021 and it will be constructed as part of Phase-III. MoRTH has approved a Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLP) for Hisar, DPR and subsequent tender are under preparation as of July 2021.

MMLP is a government of India initiative to lower the logistics cost and time, enhance value add and boost economy. As of July 2021, MoRTH has planned to develop 35 MMLPs under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) mode. Based on the detailed project report (DPR), feasibility study and approved bidding document, the tender will be invited from companies. The bidding documents (The Model Concession Agreement and Request for Proposal) is being finalised for these 35 MMLPs, each of which will have a minimum area of 100 acres (40.5 hectares), with various modes of transport access, and comprising mechanized warehouses, specialized storage solutions such as cold storage, facilities for mechanized material handling and inter-modal transfer container terminals, and bulk and break-bulk cargo terminals. Logistics parks will further provide value-added services such as customs clearance with bonded storage yards, quarantine zones, testing facilities, and warehousing management services. Provisions will also be made for late-stage manufacturing activities such as kitting and final assembly, grading, sorting, labelling and packaging activities, re-working, and returns management.

Bus station and multi-model last-mile connectivity
In Hisar city itself, the airport is about 4 km from the bus station along the National Highway 9, 5 km from the city center and 6 km from the Hisar Junction. Plans are under way to relocate Hisar Bus station to the land immediate east of airport to create an integrated rail-bus-aero transport hub, which will also have a logistics park, last mile connectivity via taxis, car park, etc.

Expressways and highways
Airport lies on Delhi bypass in Hisar city on NH 9 Abohar-Delhi route, which was upgraded by 2020 to six-lane barrier-free access-controlled expressway to enhance its connectivity with Delhi. The NH 52 Chandigarh–Rajgarh–Jaipur, which also passes next to the airport, was also upgraded to six-lanes by 2020. There are plan to


 * NH-9: will be expanded to 8-lanes with increase in the traffic due to aerocity, cargo airport and logistics hub, etc.
 * Hisar-Narnaul-Alwar-Mathura/Gwalior Expressway: Upgrade route to National Highway with additional lanes, via Hisar-Mangali-Shahrwa-Kairu-south of Jui, north of Badhra - Akoda (spur from upgrade Akoda to Rewari Sh to NH) - existing NH (Mahendragarh-Narnaul to NH148B-NH48 junction) - Harsora - Badli (with spur Badli-Khairthal-Kishangarh- then underground tunnels between Damookar-Thons and Sarpur-Ferozepur Jhirka) - upgrade existing SH-14 to Mathura (Badli-Alwar-Deeg-Mathura), upgrade existing SH-45 to NH (Feroepur Jhirka-Nadbai), greenfield Nadbai-Uchain-Jindpura), upgrade SH23 to NH (Nagla/Bharatpur-Jindpura-Dholpur), greenfield Nadbai-DarhraMod-Beerampura-Kakraua, upgrade SH43to NH (Bharatpur-Kakrua-Ranpur/Dhaulpur), greenfield Ranpur-Rahe-Jaura bridge over Chambal river and to Gwalior NCR CMC.

Other roads
NH-52 Hisar north bypass at Talwandi Rana, via Dhansu-Mirzapur, to NH-9 Hisar bypass near Geeta Colony east of GJUST widening and strengthening of road to provide alternative connectivity was already completed by 2021.

Railway
In phase-II the railway services at Raipur will be upgraded for the passenger services and cargo handling including sliding. Additionally, Hisar-Delhi semi-highspeed train will be run once the construction of Hisar-Hansi link is completed. In phase-III, an underground integrated railway station will be constructed at the airport and semi-highspeed train will be extended to airport via Hisar Junction railway station. DPR for double-tracks of broad gauge rail from Raipur railway halt to airport dry port area was ready in August 2021 and it will be constructed as part of Phase-III.

"Hisar International Airport-IGI Airport line" (HIAIGI Line): In April 2023, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar approved the rail link between IGI Airport and Hisar airport via Bijwasan-Gurugram-Garhi Harsaru-Sultanpur-Farukhnagar-Jhajjar, Rohtak-Hansi-Hisar. In first phase, the missing Garhi Harsaru-Farukhnagar–Jhajjar rail link will be constructed. In the second phase, a short spur Hisar Airport rail line from the Jakhal–Hisar line to Hisar airport will be constructed. Hisar Airport rail line will be a new greenfield short extension from the existing Hisar–Jakhal line to Airport integrated transport hub. DPR will be ready soon (dec 2018 update). Airport will have an underground railway station, and Indian Railways has agreed to commence the construction with the commencement of phase-III of airport.

"Hisar Airport-Noida Airport Railway line" (HANAR Line): From Palwal-Noida Airport-Khurja Railway (PNAKR line), the Noida Airport will be directly connected with IGI (via Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor (HORC) and Delhi-Jaipur line) and Hisar Airport (via HORC and Hisar International Airport-IGI Airport line (HIAIGI Line) through Jhajjar-Rohtak-Hansi-Hisar).

Once the under construction Hisar-Hansi line is completed, 200 km/hour semi-high speed Hisar-Hansi-Rohtak-Bahadurgarh-IGI Delhi will be operated which will run at an average speed of 160 km/h and will travel the distance between Hisar Airport to IGI Delhi in one and half hours, and an underground railway station will be constructed at the Hisar airport for the integrated transport hub. This may require upgrade/replacement of existing or laying of additional new line between Hansi to Asaudha (near Bahadurgarh on Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor). This will also connect to the Delhi–Alwar Regional Rapid Transit System near Gurugram via Haryana Orbital Rail corridor.

Summary status update on development

 * July 2021: Phase-I completed, Phase-II under-construction, and for the Phase-III plan was being prepared by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The 7200 acre airport will have 3300 m runway, and in third phase a second runway will be constructed parallel to the existing runway, it will have air cargo as well as scheduled domestic and international passenger flights which will have separate terminals with parking space for 50 aircraft, with night landing facility, and it will be connected to the high speed rail to IGI Delhi Airport which was approved in 2019 and it will be enabled after completion of Hisar-Hansi rail line and the railway station will be underground for the seamless connectivity. Spice Jet has signed an agreement to set up flight training centre to train pilots in the batches of 100 pilots. Also see individual phases above for detailed status.
 * Sept 2022: Phase-I was complete, Phase-II construction was underway which is on target to be completed by March 2023.
 * Mar 2023: The airport's first phase will be opened for commercial operations from 1 November 2023.