| Rupsi Airport | |
| Iata: | RUP |
| Icao: | VERU |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Government of India |
| Operator: | Airports Authority of India |
| City-Served: | Dhubri and Kokrajhar |
| Location: | Rupsi, Kokrajhar district, Assam, India |
| Metric-Elev: | y |
| Elevation-M: | 40 |
| Coordinates: | 26.1411°N 89.9067°W |
| Pushpin Map: | India Assam#India |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Assam |
| Pushpin Label: | RUP |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Metric-Rwy: | n |
| R1-Number: | 05/23 |
| R1-Length-F: | 6,000 |
| R1-Length-M: | 1829 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | April 2023 – March 2024 |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 33,257 (9.1%) |
| Stat2-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat2-Data: | 716 (33.5%) |
| Stat3-Header: | Cargo tonnage |
| Stat3-Data: | — |
| Footnotes: | Source: AAI[1] [2] [3] |
Rupsi Airport is a domestic airport serving the city of Kokrajhar and Dhubri, Assam, India. It is located at Rupsi, north from the city centre.[4] The airport serves as a way for people of the lower part of Assam to travel to India's major cities and states. It also serves as a layover for those traveling to the wildlife parks of Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary, Ultapani Reserve Forest and Manas National Park of Assam and Jaldapara National Park in Alipurduar district and Buxa Tiger Reserve of West Bengal.
The Rupsi Airfield was constructed by the British during World War II to supply arms, manpower, and ammunition to the Allied forces. It was used by the United States Army Air Forces' Tenth Air Force in the China-Burma-India Theater. The regional airline, Vayudoot, used to operate services to the airport in the 1980s, but withdrew services after the closure of the airline in 1984, after which the Government of India made unsuccessful attempts to revive the airport with the joint initiative of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the North Eastern Council (NEC).[5] The World War II era airstrip remained defunct since 1984. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have begun work to revive the airfield since 2010s.[6] Finally, commercial operations to the airport began under the Government's UDAN Scheme in 2021.[7]
The then Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, along with Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Chief, Hagrama Mohilary, laid the foundation stone of construction of the airport's terminal on 22 February 2019.[8] An estimated cost of Rs. 70 crore was spent to make the airport suitable for the operation of ATR-72 type of aircraft, including the 3500adj=onNaNadj=on terminal building. The infrastructure for the airport was made ready by October 2019.[6] The newly launched domestic airline, FlyBig, started operations in the airport on 8 May 2021, by starting flight services to Guwahati and Kolkata. In the future, other destinations from the airport will be covered. On 5 May 2021, FlyBig conducted a successful trial of its flight at the airport. The AAI and IAF will jointly develop the airport for both commercial and military operations. The IAF is also evaluating the feasibility of extending the runway to 10000feet to enable the operation of fighter aircraft.[7]
The airport covers an area of 447acres at an elevation of 131feet above mean sea level. It has one paved runway designated 05/23, which measures 6000x.
As of June 2024, there are no flights to and from the airport, due to FlyBig's technical issues, which was the sole airline of the airport that suspended operations in parts of Northeast India in November 2023. The airport is expected to resume operations from June/July 2024 after the opening of a new Guwahati-based airline, Jettwings, which will begin flights from Guwahati to Kolkata via a stop in Rupsi.[9] [10] In June 2024, Alliance Air announced to restart the airport's commercial operations from 19 June 2024, by reinstating flights to Guwahati and Kolkata with a stop at Rupsi.[11]