Dholera International Airport: Phase 1 built, trial flights underway

Construction of the greenfield airport's first phase wrapped up at the end of 2025, with calibration flights through early 2026 ahead of first operations.

Phase 1 of the greenfield Dholera International Airport is built. Construction wrapped up at the end of 2025, and the airport has since moved into calibration flights and operational trials through early 2026, ahead of its first passenger and cargo operations.

It is being built by the Airports Authority of India with the Gujarat government and DICDL, through the Dholera International Airport Company (DIACL). Phase 1 lays down the runway, an ATC tower, and passenger and cargo terminals, sized for roughly 1.2 million passengers a year to start.

The long-term plan scales the airport toward 50 million passengers, with cargo and logistics built in from the outset.

A working airport changes the calculus for the whole region. It is one of the four anchors — alongside the expressway, the freight line and the fab — that turn a planned city into a working one.

Source: DIACL — dholera.gujarat.gov.in, Dholera International Airport — Wikipedia.