400 jets in 4 days: Anant-Radhika’s pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar kick off | News – Business standard
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, arrives in Jamnagar on Friday. Photo: PTI
Jamnagar, the fifth largest city in Gujarat south of the Gulf of Kutch, has long been on the world map as home to the largest oil refinery and petrochemical complex. A pre-wedding celebration has now turned the quiet town of Reliance Industries into more than a bustling place with planes ferrying movers and shakers from all over the world.
The airport, a civilian enclave in an Indian air base with no parking, will handle an estimated 400 charter flights between Friday and Monday as large-scale celebrations have begun ahead of the July wedding of the RIL chairman’s youngest son. Mukesh Ambani, Anant, with fiance Radhika Merchant.
Airport director Dhananjay Kumar Singh said this Business standard on Friday, ground handling and security staff had to be reinforced to meet the high demand for air traffic. The to-do list for the authorities was long, from setting up a temporary customs, immigration and quarantine counter to completing the renovation and beautification work – all in the last approximately 45 days.
The approximately 400 charter flights bring the who’s who in the business world to global politics and entertainment. The guest list in Jamnagar could provide competition for the annual meeting in Davos. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Fink, Gautam Adani, N Chandrasekaran, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ajay Piramal, Rihanna, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Sachin Tendulkar are some of the prominent names who have landed in this coastal city. about 300 km away from Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat.
Since there is no parking space at Jamnagar airport, the charter planes are parked at nearby airports such as Rajkot, Porbandar, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, according to Singh. On Friday, Jamnagar airport would handle 140 charter flights (70 departures plus 70 arrivals), with about 50 percent of the planes coming from abroad.
This weekend – on Saturday and Sunday – the airport is expected to handle 90 and 70 charter flights respectively. “On March 4, the airport is expected to handle more than 100 flight movements as most of the VVIPs would depart on that day,” he said.
It is learned that SpiceJet has operated two cargo flights from Dubai to Jamnagar, bringing special food for the VVIPs. Jamnagar airport has set up a temporary CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) facility to handle the extraordinary passenger numbers. The CIQ, which was established on February 25, will remain in force until March 6. The ground handling agencies – including AI Airport Services Limited (AIASL) – have an additional 100 persons from other airports such as Ahmedabad and Mumbai to handle traffic. Singh commented.
Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, with wife Anuradha Mahindra in Jamnagar on Friday Photo: Reuters
The AAI, which employs only 10 to 15 air traffic control (ATC) staff, has additional staff to help manage traffic. The operational area lies with the IAF.
Instead of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), security at Jamnagar airport is provided by the security personnel (policemen) of the Government of Gujarat. Instead of the usual 35-odd security personnel at this airport, the number has been increased to around 60 by the state government, Singh said.
Then there is the task of beautifying the building. The focus was on showcasing Gujarat’s heritage using the Bandhani pattern. As for the city side, beautification mainly meant planting trees.
On a normal day, Jamnagar airport handles only six scheduled flights per day. Two are operated by Air India (to and from Mumbai) and the remaining four by Star Air (to and from Bengaluru and Hyderabad).
There is still time before normalcy returns in this city of Gujarat.
ALL ROADS LEAD TO JAMNAGAR
Temporary customs, immigration and quarantine facility constructed at Jamnagar airport till March 6.
Another 100 ground handling personnel were deployed.
The Gujarat government has provided 55 to 60 additional security personnel for the airport.
Private planes are parked at nearby airports as Jamnagar airport has no parking space
First print: March 01, 2024 | 11:54 PM IST