Bagdogra Airport

Bagdogra Airport
Bagdogra Customs Airport
বাগডোগরা বিমানবন্দর

Airside of Bagdogra Airport

IATA: IXB – ICAO: VEBD

IXB
Location of airport in West Bengal

Summary
Airport type Military/Public
Owner Indian Air Force
Operator Airports Authority of India
Serves Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling
Location Bagdogra, Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India
Elevation AMSL 412 ft / 126 m
Coordinates 26°40′52″N 088°19′43″E / 26.68111°N 88.32861°E / 26.68111; 88.32861
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
18/36 9,035 2,754 Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (2014-15)
Passenger movements 1,035,887 Increase43.6%
Aircraft movements 10,125 Increase21.5%
Cargo tonnage 2,235 Increase24.5%
Source: AAI,[1]

Bagdogra Airport, (IATA: IXB, ICAO: VEBD) is located in about 16 km (9.9 mi) west of the city of Siliguri, 50 km (31 mi) away from Jalpaiguri and 58 km (36 mi) away from Darjeeling, the cities which the airport mainly serves, in the Darjeeling district in northern West Bengal, India.[2] It is operated as a civil enclave at AFS Bagdogra of the Indian Air Force. It is the gateway airport to the hill stations of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong and other portions of the North Bengal region in the Indian state of West Bengal, and sees thousands of tourists annually.[3] The airport is a major stop in the region with flights connecting Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Guwahati. The airport also has regular helicopter flights to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. The central government of India conferred customs airport status to the airport in 2002 with limited international operations.[4][5] Air traffic at Bagdogra crossed 1 million for the first time growing at 43.6% percent in 2014-15. This is one of the few airports in India with zero sales tax on aviation turbine fuel.[6]

Air Force Station

The airbase is home to the IAF No. 20 Wing, as also to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Mig-21) FL fighter aircraft of the No. 8 Squadron and a Helicopter Unit. Along with the airbase at Hasimara, it is responsible for combat air operations over a large area including North Bengal, Sikkim, and if needed, Bhutan. The base caters to all military air traffic for the Indian Army's XXXIII Corps based nearby in Sukna.

Expansion

The state government had handed over 14.5 acres (59,000 m2) of land to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for developing infrastructure for night landing in 2010. AAI also expanded the apron at the same time, enabling the parking of 5 Airbus A320 class aircraft simultaneously.[4] The IAF, which maintains the ATC and runway, gave permission for night landings by civilian aircraft allowing flights past 6 pm in 2013.[7]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinationsConcourse
Air India Delhi, Kolkata Domestic
Druk Air Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Thimphu/Paro International
GoAir Delhi Domestic
IndiGo Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata Domestic
Jet Airways Delhi, Kolkata Domestic
SpiceJet Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata Domestic
Vistara Delhi,[8][9] Guwahati (ends 15 February 2016) Domestic

References

  1. ↑ "TRAFFIC STATISTICS - DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS" (jsp). Aai.aero. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/bagdogra_generalinfo.jsp
  3. ↑ http://m.goibibo.com/airports/bagdogra-ixb/Permits for Foreign tourists intending to journey to Sikkim are issued at this airport
  4. 1 2 "Night-landing facility at Bagdogra soon". The Times of India. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
  5. ↑ "International status to Bagdogra airport hailed". The Times of India. 2 October 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Bagdogra backs CM flight path- Tax waiver fuels air traffic growth". The Telegraph (Calcutta). Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "IAF nod for Bagdogra night landing". The Telegraph. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Vistara to add Guwahati and Bagdogra into its network". Vistara. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "After Singur flight, Tata takes return flight to Bengal". Hindustan Times. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.

External links

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