Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel has announced that the Dholera international airport near Ahmedabad would be operational by 2024. According to Patel, work on the Dholera International Airport has already begun by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). He was virtually addressing guests at the India Pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020 in the United Arab Emirates for a special session on the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR). AAI Chairman Sanjeev Kumar told the media that the construction work for the first phase of the international airport will begin in January 2022, with tenders already out. Kumar explained that AAI's role is to work with the Gujarat government and the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) to develop an international airport at Dholera. The Gujarat government has already made available 3,500 acres of land for the project, he said. The land was given to the joint venture company on a long-term lease, as per the IAS officer. He added that all necessary approvals, including environmental clearance and security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs, had already been obtained in order to begin work. He said that in the first phase, the AAI would build a 3,200-m runway that would allow code-E type aircraft to land and take off and that in phase II, the runway would be extended to 3,800 m. The third runway will be constructed in the third phase. Parallel operations will be possible on both runways. The chairman of the AAI also said that the airport can accommodate 12 aircraft. While the passenger terminal will cover 20,000 square metres, a cargo terminal will cover 3,000 sq m, allowing industries to export directly from the airport, he said. He further added that the Centre had decided to monetise 25 of the 138 airports currently managed by the AAI. Image SourceAlso read: Ahmedabad airport to be partially closed for maintenance work