Ayodhya Airport expansion: How AAI plans to handle surging visitor footfall

Ayodhya airport

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to expand the Ayodhya Airport, with an aim to increase the airport's passenger handling capacity. Currently, the airport can handle 0.16 million passengers per annum (MPPA). The AAI officials informed that the expansion aims to increase this capacity to 6 MPPA.

AyodhyaAirports Authority of India plans to expand the Ayodhya Airport to increase its capacity to 6 MPPA.Expected cost of expansion ~ 1,625 CrAirport area will be expanded to 331 hectares from 141 hectares with a new passenger terminal. pic.twitter.com/X0yi7dfUZq
The Uttar Pradesh Index (@theupindex) March 23, 2025

The Maharshi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya was inaugurated on December 30, 2023, before the consecration of the Ram Mandir on January 22, 2024. Since then, there has been a steep rise in the number of visitors to the city, resulting in a considerable increase in passenger traffic at the airport.

"The current area of the airport is about 141 hectares, which will be expanded to 331 hectares. A new passenger terminal building will be constructed over an area of 4.4 hectares. The existing terminal building is small and spans only 0.6 hectares,” an official told Business Standard.

The AAI official further mentioned that this expansion is expected to be completed in 28 months, with a total project cost of around Rs 1,625 crore. The number of bays at the airport's apron will be increased from 8 to 18. Another official mentioned that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has granted environmental clearance for this project.

Currently, the airport handles about 174 flights per week from just five cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad, according to the aviation analytics firm Cirium. A year ago, the airport was handling around 154 flights per week.

IndiGo is the largest operator at this airport, operating approximately 64 flights per week. A year ago, this airline operated only 36 flights from here. SpiceJet currently operates 42 flights per week from Ayodhya Airport.