Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport is an international airport serving Lucknow, the capital of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located in Amausi, from the city centre, and was earlier known as ''Amausi Airport''. It was later renamed in 2008 after Chaudhary Charan Singh, the fifth Prime Minister of India. It is owned and operated by the Lucknow International Airport Limited (LIAL), a public–private consortium led by Adani Group.
The airport is the 11th busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in India. It handled more than 5 million passengers, with more than 42,000 aircraft movements in the fiscal year 2022–2023, and handled around 5.5 million passengers, with 38,494 aircraft movements in the fiscal year 2019–2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger traffic declined by 55.1% in the FY 2020-2021 and aircraft movements by 40.4% in the same year.
The airport has two operational terminals (1 and 2), and one under construction passenger terminal (3) that will be completed by the end of 2023.
History
The airport was constructed in 1986 to facilitate service to corporate and government officials. With an increasing number of passengers, AAI decided to upgrade and expand the airport in 1996, owing to an increased number of passengers and the introduction of private operators in the sector.
On 17 July 2008, the Government of India officially renamed Amausi Airport to Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport.
The second terminal (Terminal 2), equipped with latest technology, was then built in 2012 to handle the increasing domestic traffic. Terminal 2 was inaugurated and granted international status on 19 May 2012.
The construction of a third terminal (Terminal 3) for international operations was announced in 2016 in order to cater for the increasing passenger traffic. In 2018, the Government of India approved the new terminal 3 which is being built at INR 13.83 billion.
In February 2019, the Adani Enterprises led - Lucknow International Airport Limited (LIAL) won the rights of operations, management and development of the airport under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. As per the agreement, the airports would be handed to the company for a period of 50 years at the highest bid of 171 per passenger. The company will pay the per-passenger fee (PPF) to AAI for every domestic and international passenger handled at the airport.
Runway
Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport has ILS CAT IIIB capability on runway 27, which enables landing in low visibility conditions.
Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Amritsar are the only 6 airports in India with ILS CAT IIIB which helps flights land safely even with visibility as low as 50 metres.
Terminals
The airport has two operational terminals and one under construction:
Terminal 1
The original terminal, built to complement Charbagh Railway Station's architecture. It has two arrival and three departing gates as well as two immigration counters. The terminal was expanded in 1996. It is now used for international flights after the opening of Terminal 2 in 2012. Terminal 1 will be demolished in the second phase of the CCSI airport expansion project to link Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Demolition of terminal 1 is expected to start by October 2023 and will be completed by December 2023.