Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow Airport To Suspend Night Flights From 23 February Until July For Infrastructure Upgrade

Lucknow Airport, also known as Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (CCSIA) will not operate any night flights (between 9:30pm and 6am), from 23 February until 11 July, according to airport officials.

During this time, the airport will expand and upgrade its existing runway (airside) to prepare for future challenges as the number of passengers and cargo flows rises.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change granted the airport environmental clearance on 15 December for the airport expansion plan.  

An airport spokesperson said, "During the four-month period, the airport will be undertaking various construction activities to upgrade the infrastructure on the airside which includes the introduction of three new link taxiways, new ground lights for aircraft operations, runway end safety area made of sand and aircraft turn pad expansion", reports IANS.

"We have informed the airlines about the non-availability of the runway for 8.5 hours for them to facilitate the passengers accordingly," he added. 

Under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, the Adani Enterprises-led Lucknow International Airport Limited (LIAL) was awarded the rights to operate, manage, and develop the airport in February 2019.

The Adani group is estimated to invest Rs 10,700 crore in the expansion of Lucknow airport, increasing its annual passenger handling capacity from four million passengers per annum (MPPA) to 39 MPPA and cargo handling capacity to 0.25 million tonnes annually.

The airport in Lucknow has a total land size of 509.41 hectares (1258.80 acres), making it one of the most land-constrained airports in India.