Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport

Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport is a domestic airport mainly serving the city of Durgapur, Raniganj and also Asansol. It is located at Andal region of Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is named after the renowned Bengali poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam. The airport is roughly 39 km from Asansol and 21 km from Raniganj.

The airport's hinterland comprises the towns and cities of Asansol, Chittaranjan, Bardhaman, Bankura, Bishnupur, Purulia, Raniganj, Sainthia, Suri, Bolpur, Rampurhat in West Bengal and Dhanbad & Bokaro in Jharkhand. It is part of the country's first private sector Aerotropolis, being developed by Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL) in Durgapur. The airport was officially inaugurated on 19 September 2013 by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. According to 2023–24 data,the airport is the third-busiest airport of West Bengal and the 58th-busiest airport of India.

Construction planning
The project was conceived in 2006–07 during the Left Front government. The construction of the airport was completed on 2013. But for several reasons, the airport did not receive final operational clearance from the aviation regulator DGCA until 24 April 2015. Regular Commercial Flights started from 2015.

Commencement of the airport
On 10 May 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first passenger to use the new airport when he flew out to Delhi, aboard an Indian Air Force Boeing 737 VIP aircraft, even before commercial airlines started their regular service from the airport. Scheduled commercial operation commenced on 18 May 2015. Another airline, Zoom Air, also begun flights on the Delhi – Durgapur – Kolkata route but after three months the flight was stopped due to lack of passengers. The airport gained popularity in 2018 with connections to Delhi and Hyderabad by Air India and to Mumbai and Chennai in October 2019 by SpiceJet.

Plan
The airport has been built over 650 acres (can be expanded more at the future) at a cost of inr 6000000000. The airport has 70% open green space for facilitating fresh green environment within the airport area.

Ownership
The State Government also has a 26.05% stake through West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation. Singapore's Changi Airports International (CAI) has a 30.21% stake in BAPL. Other Indian promoters include IL&FS, Pragati Social Infrastructure & Development, Pragati 47, Lend Lease Company India and Citystar Infrastructure.

Terminal
The 5,750 square metre passenger terminal building first started with 1 million passengers per annum capacity 2015, and with expansions as per 2022 it can now handle up to 2.5 million passengers per annum. It has six check-in counters with Common Use Terminal equipment (CUTE) in the departure lounge and two baggage conveyor belts at the arrival hall. The airport is equipped with category VI firefighting and rescue capability.

Runway
The airport's 2,800-meter runway (which is expandable up to 3,315-metre) is equipped with a CAT I instrument landing system (ILS) and can handle narrow-body aircraft like Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. The airport apron has four parking bays and a Helipad.

Airlines and destinations
After inauguration, this airport had flights to Kolkata by Alliance Air. However, the flight was discontinued after few months. Over the next few years, the airport gained connectivity to other major metro cities.

As of July 2024, the following airlines operates direct flights from Durgapur:

Roads
The airport is conveniently connected to other parts of Durgapur by road. It is also connected to Raniganj and Asansol through National Highway 19. There are dedicated transport options available to reach the airport and reach passengers’ desired destinations from the airport.

Railway
The closest railway station to the airport is Andal Junction (UDL), which is around 10 km away from the airport and other nearby railway stations are Waria (OYR) and Durgapur  (DGR) which are around 18Km and 20Km away by road.

Accidents and Incidents
On 1 May 2022, a SpiceJet Boeing 737–800 aircraft VT-SLH operating from Mumbai to Durgapur as SG-945, encountered severe turbulence while descending at Durgapur, injuring 14 passengers and 3 flight attendants out of 195 occupants (including two pilots and four flight attendants). A passenger, Akbar Ansari (48), died of a spinal injury five months later.