Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport

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Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport
নেতাজী সুভাষ চন্দ্র বসু আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর

IATA: CCU – ICAO: VECC
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Kolkata Airport
Serves Kolkata, India
Location Dum Dum, West Bengal
Elevation AMSL 23 ft / 7 m
Coordinates 22°39′17″N 088°26′48″E / 22.65472, 88.44667
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
01L/19R 7,872 2,400 Asphalt
01R/19L 11,900 3,627 Asphalt

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (IATA: CCU, ICAO: VECC) is an airport located in Dum Dum, near Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The civil airport was originally known as Dum Dum Airport before being renamed in the honour of Subhas Chandra Bose.

It has two parallel runways 01/19 L/R, of which the longer one, 01R/19L is used for takeoffs and landings, while the other one is used mostly as a taxiway.

It is located approximately 17 km (11 mi) from the city centre. The airport has three terminals: a domestic terminal (opened in the early 1990s), an international terminal (the oldest terminal) and a cargo terminal.

Recently the airport has been given a facelift, making it one of the better airports in the country.

Contents

[edit] Passenger traffic

Year Passengers Year Passengers[1]
1993 2,294,000 1998 2,521,000
1994 2,364,000 1999 2,599,000
1995 2,565,000 2000 2,686,000
1996 2,577,000 2001 2,561,000
1997 2,513,000 2002 2,827,000

[edit] History

Kolkata airport has a distinguished place in the history of world aviation in general and the history of Indian aviation in particular. The following are some key milestones.

  • 1924: KLM begins scheduled stops at Calcutta (Kolkata), as part of their Amsterdam to Batavia (now Jakarta) flight.
  • 1924: Five United States Air Force planes touch down at Calcutta as part of the first round-the-world flight expedition by any air force in the world.
  • 1929: Bengal Air Transport Company Limited starts Calcutta to Siliguri flights. This predates the more widely known "first Indian flight" by Tata Air Lines on the Karachi - Ahmedabad - Bombay (now Mumbai) flight by two years.
  • 1930: Air Orient begins scheduled stops at Calcutta, as part of their Paris to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) flight.
  • 1931: Imperial Airways' experimental flight from London to Australia lands in Calcutta.
  • 1933: Imperial Airways introduces regular London - Calcutta service (extended progressively to Rangoon (Yangon) and Singapore).
  • 1934: China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), a subsidiary of Pan American World Airways, begins flights on the Shanghai - Hong Kong - Chungking (now Chongqing) - Calcutta route, as a connection to the San Francisco - Shanghai Clipper route.
  • 1937: Amelia Earhart arrives in Calcutta on June 17, as part of her round the world flight. Less than a month later she disappears in the Pacific Ocean.
  • 1939: Deutsche Lufthansa begins scheduled stops at Calcutta, as part of their Berlin to Bangkok service.
  • 1942: China National Aviation Corporation moves its headquarters to Calcutta. Calcutta remains operational hub of the airline until the end of the Second World War.
  • 1947: Pan American World Airways launches round-the-world service with the slogan "New York to San Francisco via Calcutta".
  • 1952: British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) introduces first jet service to India connecting London and Calcutta, using the de Havilland Comet.
  • 1953: BOAC de Havilland Comet jetliner crashes after takeoff from Calcutta airport. This crash is the first of many that will lead to the discovery of the phenomenon of metal fatigue, and will usher in the demise of British jet aviation supremacy.
  • 1963: Japan Airlines (JAL) connects India with Japan as part of the Silk Route service. This is the second Indian destination, after Delhi which was added in the same year.
  • 1964: Indian Airlines introduces first domestic jet service in India using the Caravelle jets on the Calcutta - Delhi route.
  • 1975: India's first dedicated cargo terminal opens at Dum Dum airport.
  • 1981: Drukair, Bhutan's national airline established with operations/maintenance headquarters in Calcutta airport.
  • 2006: Netaji Subhas International Airport is connected to the Kolkata Suburban Railway system, becoming the first airport in India to be accessible by mass rapid transport system.

[edit] Modernization

The airport is now being provided with a face-lift by the Airports Authority of India, which is currently building a fourth terminal for the airport, due to massive increase in passenger volume during the past three to four years. The modernization plan also include the lengthening of the runways. The airport is also linked by the suburban railway system. It is among the top four airports in the country, handling about 350 flights a day.

The increase in air traffic has forced the government to plan a second airport for the city. The chief minister is thinking of private firms to carry out the task.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Kolkata airport, along with Guwahati, is the main hub for north-east bound flights. It serves 31 destinations within India, after Delhi (48) and Mumbai (46). As of 2006, 69% of its flights are domestic flights, compared to 43% in 2002.

[edit] Domestic

  • Air India (Mumbai)
    • Air-India Express (Mumbai)
    • Indian Airlines (Agartala, Ahemdabad, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Gaya, Guwahati, Jaipur, Mumbai, Port Blair, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jorhat, Pune, Raipur, Udaipur, Varanasi)
  • Deccan (Agartala, Aizwal, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Jorhat, Lilabari, Mumbai, Patna, Port Blair, Raipur, Ranchi, Silchar)
  • IndiGo Airlines (Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Jaipur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Pune, Tirvanthapuram, Kochi, Jodhpur, Chandigarh, Leh)
  • Jet Airways (Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jorhat, Mumbai, Pune, Port Blair)
  • Jet Lite (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Port Blair)
  • Kingfisher Airlines (Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Raipur, Udaipur, Varanasi)
  • SpiceJet (Bagdogra, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Port Blair)
  • MDLR Airlines (Chandigarh, Delhi, Ranchi)

[edit] International

[edit] Cargo


[edit] Former airlines

[edit] References

  1. ^ Passenger Traffic
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[edit] External links


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* Designated as a "restricted international airport" ("customs airport"). Only few international flights operate from these airports.