Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport 7.04

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport is an international airport serving the cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, India. The airport is located in Hansol, 9km north of central Ahmedabad. It is named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the 1st Deputy Prime Minister of India.In fiscal year 2016-17, it handled over 7.4 million passengers and about 165 aircraft movements a day making it the eighth-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in India. The airport also serves as a focus city for GoAir and Jet Airways. In 2015, the government started the procedure for the privatization of the airport. The airport is set to be replaced by Dholera International Airport due to expansion constraints.HistoryThe airport was set up in 1937, while international operations began in 1992. It was categorised as an International airport on 23 May 2000. In 2010, the new terminal 2 was inaugurated for handling international passengers. A 18ft statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also inaugurated at the airport. In 2015, the AAI invited proposals for privatisation of Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Jaipur airports.