The airport was constructed during the British era airport was opened in the 1930s and used periodically by the Royal Air Force and Royal Flying Corps before and during World War II. It was commonly known as Jubbulpore Aerodrome, and had a dirt runway until the 1960s. The new paved runway was built atop the original dirt runway, in the same alignment. Before the aerodrome at Dumna was opened, planes had been landing, even in the 1920s, within a racecourse inside the city limits of Jabalpur.
Runway
The runway is capable of serving narrow body aircraft including Airbus 320 family/Boeing 737-800 and is equipped with night landing facilities, DVOR/DME, NDB and precision approach path indicator. It has a parking for one A-320/B-737 or 2 ATR-72 aircraft.
Terminal
The terminal has the capacity of handling 200 passengers at the peak hours. It has 4 check-in desks apart from CCTV's and an X-ray machine for security. The airport is equipped with runway lighting, car-calling, night landing facilities, a food stall and an ATM. The Government of Madhya Pradesh had provided with Tourism Information Center and medical facilities like first-aid, MIR, and doctors and nurse will be provided soon.
Expansion
A new Integrated terminal will be built with an area of 9350 m2 and capable of handling 500 passengers at peak hours. The project also includes extending the runway to 2750 meters from the current 1988 meters, a 14 km long boundary wall, a 5 km long approach road connecting airport to the city, ATC control tower cum technical block, apron, taxiway, isolation bay and a fire station. The foundation stone was laid on August 13, 2018 by Suresh Prabhu, Jayant Sinha, Rakesh Singh amongst others and is expected to complete by June 2021.
Airlines and destinations
JCTSL offers airport shuttle services starting from ISBT from Jabalpur Airport. Pre-paid metro taxi services are available along with pre-paid auto rickshaws. Coach services to key locations in Jabalpur and private car rental services are available.
Accidents and Incidents
On 4 December 2015, a SpicejetBombardier Dash 8 Q400 registration VT-SUC, was operating as Spicejet Flight 2458, was landing at Jabalpur when the aircraft collided with a herd of 30-40 wild boars. 3 boars were killed and the aircraft skidded off the runway coming to a stop with the left gear collapsed, left engine damage, and other unknown damage caused by the impact. Despite the damage, no serious passenger injuries were reported
