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Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VEBN/VNS) serves the ancient pilgrimage city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, on the west bank of the Ganges. The field offers a single hard-surfaced runway with an ILS, making it a useful visual and instrument arrival point for pilots flying into one of northern India's most historic and spiritually significant cities.
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, identified by the ICAO code VEBN and IATA code VNS, lies at Babatpur on the outskirts of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is a large international airport at an elevation of 266 feet, sitting close to one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities and a major centre of Hindu pilgrimage on the banks of the Ganges. For a simulator pilot the field is notable both for its single long ILS-equipped runway and for the cultural weight of the destination it serves, with the ghats, temples and the nearby Buddhist site of Sarnath all within easy reach of the airport.
The airport is situated at Babatpur, on the edge of the Varanasi metropolitan area, roughly six miles from Sarnath, the site associated with the Buddha's first sermon. Varanasi itself lies on the left bank of the Ganges in the middle-Ganges valley of southeastern Uttar Pradesh, some 320 kilometres southeast of the state capital Lucknow and 692 kilometres from New Delhi.
The field has a single physical runway, 09/27, oriented east-west and surfaced in hard pavement with runway lighting. The database lists a length of 8,983 feet for runway 27 and 8,227 feet for runway 09; an ILS is provided for runway 27, giving pilots a precision approach aid on that threshold.
The airport operates under the callsign VIBN. Approach control is available on 119 MHz, and tower on 118.1 MHz. Area control is provided on 132.4 MHz and 120.750 MHz for the northern and southern sectors respectively. An ILS serves runway 27, as noted above.
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport functions as a large international airport handling scheduled traffic for Varanasi, operated by the Airports Authority of India. Prior permission is required for general aviation and private flights.
