To let a Boeing 777 land in PM Modi's Varanasi, a national highway will have to move

To let a wide-body airliner like the Boeing 777 to land in the Prime Minister’s constituency of Varanasi, an existing national highway may have to take a short detour as the central goverment has rejected a proposal to build an underpass for vehicles.

The location of the Varanasi International Airport leaves little space to extend its runway so that a wide-body, long-haul aircraft could land. At one end of the runway is the Number 56 Lucknow-Varanasi National Highway, which is being widened to a 4-lane highway, and at the other is a railway line.

Nevertheless, the Uttar Pradesh government wants to increase the length of the runway by 347 metres, which will make it long enough for the Boeing 777 to take off and land comfortably. Since the rail line cannot be shifted, tweaking the alignment of the highway is the only option.


The state government tried to resolve the matter by proposing an underpass — a first in India and like those at the Leipzig-Halle airport in Germany and Amsterdam's Schiphol where aircraft taxi above highways.

But the Centre has shot down the proposal citing security issues, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) informed the UP government at a recent meeting.

ET has accessed the minutes of the meeting held last month between AAI chairman Guru Prasad Mahapatra and senior UP officials including Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, secretary to the chief minister and the state civil aviation secretary, Surya Pal Gangwar. With the underpass proposal rejected, the state has decided to write to the Union Road Transport Ministry to halt the expansion of NH-56 to avoid any wasteful expenditure, and divert it away from the airport to make room for a longer runway, the minutes show.

Varanasi is the only international airport in UP besides Lucknow. The runaway at the airport in the state capital is being expanded by 583 meters to allow wide-body aircraft to operate from there.

Both airports currently have a single runway of about 2,800 meters each. UP wants to link both Varanasi and Lucknow to more international destinations in its efforts to boost tourism. Having wide-body aircraft to operate directly from the two cities could allow it to attract more foreign tourists to the state.

Land issues remain to be sorted out for both projects. As much as 260 acres in Varanasi and 70 acres in Lucknow are required for runway expansions. The state has asked the AAI to share 50% of the land acquisition cost at Varanasi for which AAI has proposed to offer 140 acres of its land near the airport. UP has decided to survey that land first.

In Lucknow, UP has estimated a cost of Rs 500 crore for acquiring land. The AAI has offered 69 acres of its land near the Kanpur Highway. Another meeting between AAI and state officials is slated soon to further discuss the matters.