Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport

Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport (IATA: RDP, ICAO: VEDG), (Bengali pronunciation: [Kad͡ʒi nod͡ʒrul iʃlam bimanbɔndor]), also known as Durgapur Airport, is a domestic airport mainly serving the cities of Durgapur and Asansol in India. It is located in the Andal region of Durgapur in the state of West Bengal. It is named after the renowned Bengali poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam. The airport is roughly 17 km from Durgapur’s City Centre and 34 km from Asansol’s City Bus Terminus.

The airport's hinterland comprises the cities of Durgapur, Asansol, Bardhaman, Bankura, Purulia, Bolpur 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 Andal, 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.

History

Construction planning

The project was conceived in 2006–07 during the Left Front government. The construction of the airport was completed on 2013. 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 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 began 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 was built over 650 acres (which can be expanded in the future) at a cost of ₹600 crore (US$70 million). The airport has 70% open green space for facilitating a fresh green environment within the airport area.

Future development

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is planning to invest in the infrastructure development of Durgapur airport. A source close to the development said: "JSW Infra is likely to do some work in Durgapur Airport. It may be for development of the airport city along with managing the airport. There is a lot of scope in an airport city like developing IT park and other facilities."

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.

Infrastructure

Terminal

The 5,750 square metre passenger terminal building has a capacity of 1 million passengers per annum and can be expanded in the future to a capacity to 2.5 million 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. The terminal has ATMs, Wi-Fi services, a ticket booking counter, F & B outlets, and cab booking services.

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, SpiceJet , and Air India. However, the flight was discontinued after few months. Over the next few years, the airport gained connectivity to other major metro cities via IndiGo.

As of April 2025, the following airlines operates direct flights from the airport:

Ground transport

Roads

The airport is conveniently connected to Durgapur by road. It is also connected to Raniganj and Asansol through National Highway 19.

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 18 km and 20 km away by road.

Statistics

Busiest routes

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 three 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.