Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport (VIAR) serves Amritsar in the Indian state of Punjab, sitting on a single long, ILS-equipped runway shared with an Indian Air Force base. Named after the fourth Sikh Guru and founder of Amritsar, it is the largest and busiest airport in Punjab and a useful, well-equipped destination for a simulated approach into northern India.
Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport is a joint civil-military aerodrome serving the city of Amritsar in Punjab, India. Operated by the Airports Authority of India, it is named after Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru and founder of Amritsar, and is the largest and busiest airport in the state, with a single very long runway that makes it a straightforward and interesting field for a simulator pilot flying wide-body or general aviation types into northern India.
The airport lies at Raja Sansi on the Amritsar-Ajnala Road, about 11 kilometres northwest of Amritsar city centre, in the Indian state of Punjab. It shares its site with the Amritsar Air Force Station, home to No. 1 Forward Base Support Unit of the Indian Air Force's Western Air Command, giving the field a mixed civil and military character.
The airport has a single physical runway, 16/34, some 11,994 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting. An ILS is provided for runway 34.
Approach control is available on 119.7 MHz and the tower operates on 124.35 MHz. An instrument landing system serves runway 34.
The airfield dates back to 1930, when it was established during the British era and used for VVIP movements. After Indian independence it was connected by air to Delhi and Srinagar, and the first international service, to Kabul, was launched in 1960. In January 1982 Air India began a Bombay-Birmingham service routed through Delhi, Amritsar and Moscow using Boeing 707s, a route that linked the large Punjabi community in the West Midlands to their homeland before the airline withdrew it in October 1984 amid the Punjab insurgency. Air India returned to long-haul operations from Amritsar in May 2005 with a Toronto service via Birmingham using Boeing 777s; the stopover switched to London Heathrow three years later, before the airline replaced the route with a direct Delhi-Toronto service in October 2010. The following month the airport was renamed Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport. British Midland International launched a London Heathrow service via Almaty in October 2011 using an Airbus A330, but this ended in October 2012 following BMI's merger into British Airways. Air India resumed nonstop service to Birmingham on Boeing 787s in February 2018.
The airport remains the principal international gateway for Punjab and is a focus city for Air India and Alliance Air and an operating base for IndiGo, handling both domestic and international traffic as well as significant cargo movements. It continues to share its runway and airspace with the Amritsar Air Force Station on the same site. Given its military tenancy, prior permission is likely to be required for general aviation and flight-training movements.