Jodhpur Airport to Reopen from Tuesday After One Month; Nine Flights to Connect Six Cities

Jodhpur: Following a closure of nearly one month for runway maintenance, Jodhpur Airport is set to resume operations on Tuesday. The summer schedule will simultaneously come into effect, featuring nine flights across six cities. As per seasonal practice, the Jaipur-Jodhpur flight remains suspended this summer.

Additionally, there are no flights scheduled for Indore; however, Jaisalmer Airport will commence summer operations for the first time this year. From 3 May, Alliance Air will operate the sole Jaisalmer-Jaipur flight. This will allow travellers arriving in Jodhpur to travel to Jaisalmer and return to Delhi via Jaipur.

Two Daily Flights for Three Cities

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) summer schedule, flights from Jodhpur will operate to six cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Hyderabad starting 28 April. Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru will each have two daily flights available, while the other cities will have one daily flight each. Alongside IndiGo and Air India, Air India Express has also decided to continue its services from Jodhpur. Air India will operate its single Jodhpur-Bengaluru flight.

Jodhpur Airport is a defence airport where the runway and Air Traffic Control are managed by the Air Force. Due to runway repairs, Jodhpur Civil Airport remained closed from 29 March to 27 April. The maintenance is being conducted in three phases. The first phase took place from 1 March to 28 March, during which re-carpeting was done at one end of the runway without requiring flight suspensions. The second phase, from 29 March to 27 April, involved repairs to the central portion of the runway.

The third phase will commence on 28 April and continue until 17 May, focusing on the other end of the runway; during this period, flights will take off and land from a single end. While runway maintenance typically involves excavating 8 to 10 centimetres, the Jodhpur runway was excavated to a depth of 30 centimetres for re-carpeting due to underground water issues. These repairs are being undertaken after a gap of seven years. There will be no changes to the width or length of the runway.