NAS Shibpur

Coordinates: 13°14′17″N 93°03′00″E / 13.237982°N 93.049944°E / 13.237982; 93.049944

NAS Shibpur
Summary
Airport type Naval Air Station
Operator Indian Navy
Location Shibpur, Diglipur, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Coordinates 13°14′0″N 93°3′0″E / 13.23333°N 93.05000°E / 13.23333; 93.05000
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
1,000 3,281

NAS Shibpur (IATA: IN 0053, ICAO: VODX) is an Indian naval air station under the joint-services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) of the Indian Armed Forces. It is located at Shibpur, a village located on North Andaman Island.[3][4]

History

NAS Shibpur was established in 2001 as a Forward Operating Air Base (FOAB) for enhanced surveillance in North Andaman. Presently, Dornier Do 228 aircraft and HAL Chetak helicopters of the navy and the Indian Coast Guard land at Shibpur once in a week, on their transit for surveillance of North Andaman Islands. In addition, the Indian Air Force operates its Dornier aircraft between Port Blair and Diglipur every Thursday for courier duties. In 2009, the government of India accorded sanction to commission NAS Shibpur as a full-fledged air station.[5] The length of the runway is being extended to 12,000 ft and will enable day and night operations.[6]

Dornier Do 228s of the navy and coast guard conducted search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from this base.[7]

In 2017, it was reported that the runway length would be extended to 3000m after acquisition of about 100 hectares of land. This will enable the operation of wide-bodied civil and defense flights.[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://airportguide.com/airport/India/Andaman_and_Nicobar_Islands/Madhupur-IN-0053/ Airportguide.com
  2. ↑ http://skyvector.com/airport/VODX/Shibpur-Naval-Air-Station-Airport SkyVector Shibpur
  3. ↑ Rajat Pandit (2010), Strategically-important A&N Command to get a boost. The Times of India, Feb 6, 2010. Accessed on 2012-07-23.
  4. ↑ "Andamans, not just an Indian mainland buffer". Frontier India. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Naval Aviation - Air Stations". Indian Navy. Indian Navy. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Tiger Outsmarts Dragon in Andaman Waters". The New Indian Express. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Indian navy finds no sign of missing Malaysian jet". Global Times. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Sputnik. "India Clears Way to Expand Naval Air Station in Indian Ocean". sputniknews.com. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
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