Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport
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Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is an
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
located in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, serving the
Kolkata Metropolitan Area Kolkata Metropolitan Area (abbreviated KMA; formerly Calcutta Metropolitan Area), also known as Greater Kolkata, is the urban agglomeration of the city of Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the third most populous metropolitan are ...
and is the aviation hub for eastern and northeastern
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is located approximately from the city centre. The airport is locally known as Kolkata Airport and Dum Dum Airport before being renamed in 1995 after
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperi ...
, a prominent leader of the
Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
. Opened in 1924, Kolkata Airport is one of the oldest airports in India. Spread over an area of , Kolkata Airport is the largest hub for air traffic in the eastern part of the country and one of two international airports operating in West Bengal, the other being
Bagdogra Bagdogra is a settlement in the Naxalbari CD block in the Siliguri subdivision of the Darjeeling district, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the Greater Siliguri Metropolitan Area. The Bagdogra is well connected by air to six ...
. The airport handled almost 20 million passengers in the financial year 2017–18, making it the fifth-busiest airport in India in terms of passenger traffic after airports at
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, and
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
. The airport is a major centre for flights to
Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
,
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
and the Middle Eastern cities of
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
and
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
. In 2014 and 2015, Kolkata Airport won the title of ''Best Improved Airport'' in the Asia-Pacific region awarded by the
Airport Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of airport authorities aimed at unifying industry practices for airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its members ...
. The airport is awarded as best airport by hygiene measures in
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
in 2020 by
Airports Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of airport authorities aimed at unifying industry practices for airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its members ...
.


History


Early history

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport was founded in the early 1900s as the Calcutta Aerodrome. The airport traditionally served as a strategic stopover on the air route from
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and
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to
Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Dakota 3 was the first aircraft to land in the airport. In 1924,
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
began scheduled stops at Calcutta, as part of their
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
to Batavia (
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
) route. The same year, a
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
aircraft landed in Calcutta as part of the first round-the-world expedition by any air force. The airport began as an open ground next to the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
Armoury in
Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Etymology During the 19th ...
. Sir
Stanley Jackson Sir Francis Stanley Jackson Jackson's obituary in the 1948 ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''. This gives his full name as ''Francis'' Stanley Jackson, whereas Cricinfo and CricketArchive both give his full name as ''Frank'' Stanley Jackson. This ...
, Governor of Bengal, opened the Bengal Flying Club at Dum Dum/Calcutta aerodrome in February 1929. In 1930, the airfield was made fit for use throughout the year, and other airlines began to utilize the airport.
Air Orient Air Orient was an airline based in France. Created in 1929 from the merger of ''Air Asie'' (c. 1928) and ''Air Union Lignes d’Orient'' (c. 1927 – renamed from Messageries Transaeriennes 1923), the short lived airline was merged with Air Franc ...
began scheduled stops as part of a Paris to
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route and
Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passenger ...
began flights from London to Australia via Calcutta in 1933, thus drew many airlines to Calcutta Airport. Many pioneering flights passed through the airport, including
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
's in 1937. Calcutta played an important role in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In 1942, the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
7th Bombardment Group flew B-24 Liberator bombers from the airport on combat missions over
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. The airfield was used as a cargo aerial port for the
Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...
and was also used as a communication centre for the
Tenth Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell AF ...
.


Post-independence

Passenger services grew after the Second World War. Calcutta became a destination for the world's first jet-powered passenger aircraft, the
de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four d ...
, on a
British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
(BOAC) route to London. Furthermore, in 1964
Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a division of Air India Limited. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after m ...
introduced the first Indian domestic jet service, using Caravelle jets on the Calcutta–Delhi route. Between the 1940s and 1960s, the airport was served by several major airlines including
Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...
,
Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
,
Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana Società per azioni, S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of ...
,
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
,
Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...
,
Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. ( PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and i ...
,
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
,
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
,
Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
,
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
,
Swissair Swissair AG/ S.A. (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002. It was formed from a merger between Bal ...
, and SAS. Due to the introduction of longer-haul aircraft and the poor political climate of Calcutta during the 1960s, several airlines discontinued their service to the airport. The 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
saw a large increase of both refugees and disease in Calcutta, causing more airlines to cease services to the city. In 1975, the airport opened the first dedicated cargo terminal in India. The 1990s saw new growth for Calcutta Airport, as the Indian aviation industry saw the arrival of new airlines such as
Jet Airways Jet Airways (India) Ltd is an Indian airline based in Delhi NCR, with a training and developmental center in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It b ...
and
Air Sahara JetLite was a low-cost subsidiary of Jet Airways. It was formerly known as ''Air Sahara'' until the buyout by Jet Airways which rebranded the airline as JetLite. On April 17, 2019, JetLite grounded all of its flights and ceased all operations ...
. A new domestic terminal named Terminal 2 was opened in 1995 making the international one Terminal 1, and the airport was renamed in honour of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. In 2000, a new international arrival hall was opened.


Modernisation

2005 saw the growth of
low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
s in the
Indian aviation Aviation in India, broadly divided into military and civil aviation, is the fastest-growing aviation market in the world according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The hub of the nation's aviation manufacturing industry is ...
sector, with new airlines including
SpiceJet SpiceJet is an Indian budget airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is the second largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 13.6% as of March 2019. The airline operates 630 daily fli ...
,
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, and
Kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher R ...
. This led to a dramatic rise in passenger numbers at the airport. Overcrowding in both terminals led to the implementation of a comprehensive modernisation plan for the airport. Work included an expansion of runway 01L/19R, rapid-exit taxiways and parking bays. The runway was extended by (2790 metres to 3190 metres) on the northern side and on the southern side and was fitted with CAT-I facilities for night use. A 119-year-old mosque that lies 30 metres from the runway' northern end prohibits further expansion in this direction. The longer runway, 01R/19L, was upgraded from CAT-I to CAT-II ILS status to allow landings in poor visibility. In August 2014, it was announced that the instrument landing system of the primary runway would be upgraded to CAT-IIIb. This allows flights to operate till visibility drops below 50 metres. The secondary runway would be upgraded to CAT-II. The upgrading work started in February 2015 and was completed in January 2018. The modernisation plan included some improvements of the airport's existing terminals, including the addition of extra ticketing counters, check-in kiosks, and cafes to the domestic terminal in 2009. However, the need to replace the airport's terminals entirely led to plans for a new integrated terminal, known as T2 to differentiate it from the older domestic block, to serve both international and domestic destinations. A Thai-based company, the Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Corporation (ITD-ITDCem JV, a consortium of ITD and ITD Cementation) and the 125-year-old iconic Project Management Consultant–
Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP USA, formerly WSP, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Parsons Brinckerhoff, is a multinational engineering and design firm with approximately 14,000 employees. WSP stands for Williams Sale Partnership. The firm operates in the fields of strategic con ...
(PB) was hired with Delhi-based designer Sikka Associates to construct the building. Construction commenced in November 2008, and T2 was inaugurated on 20 January 2013 after overshooting the previous deadlines of July 2011 and August 2012. The former airport hotel 'Ashok' was demolished to give way for two new five-star luxury hotels and a shopping mall in its place. Commercial operations were intended to start on 23 January 2013, the 116th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. However, the shift to the new terminal was only completed on 16 March 2013.
Airports Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of airport authorities aimed at unifying industry practices for airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its members ...
named it the best improved airport in the
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
region in 2014 and 2015.


Infrastructure


Runways

The airport has two parallel
runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
s, The primary runway 01R/19L has a capacity of 35 flights per hour and the secondary runway 01L/19R has a capacity of 15 flights per hour. The secondary runway is used as a taxiway and the main runway is mainly used. When the primary runway is shut down for maintenance, the secondary runway is used.


Hangars and ground services

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...
operates hangars at the airport, while
Bharat Petroleum Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It operates three refineries in Bina, Kochi and Mumbai. BPCL is ...
and
Indian Oil Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL; d/b/a IndianOil) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. It is a public sector under ...
act as fuellers. Catering facilities are owned by Taj-Sats and Oberoi Flight Services.


Terminals

The airport's new integrated terminal T2 is spread over and can handle 25 million passengers annually, compared to the previous terminals' capacity of five million. The terminal is an L-shaped structure, containing six levels. It contains 128 check-in counters that utilise CUTE (Common User Terminal Equipment) technology and has 78 immigration counters and twelve customs counters. Passenger lounges are provided by
Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...
. The terminal is equipped with 18
aerobridges A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, m ...
and a further 57 remote parking bays. There are plans to construct an 18-foot bronze statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the integrated terminal complex. Kolkata's old international and domestic terminals closed permanently when the integrated terminal opened. However, the old international terminal may be used for future
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services and is currently under renovation, and the domestic terminal may be used by regional airlines. An earlier proposal of continuing low-cost carrier operations from the existing domestic terminal has been shelved due to the need to fully utilise the new integrated terminal's capacity, making it the first airport in India to shift even its low-cost domestic airlines to the new integrated building upon completion. In the financial year from April 2011 to March 2012, Kolkata Airport served 10.3 million passengers, 85% which were travelling domestically. The withdrawal of
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
's service to Frankfurt in March 2012 left Kolkata with no direct connections beyond Asia. However, other international operations increased in 2012. The new terminal has attracted some airlines to expand their route networks to include Kolkata. In September 2012, the
Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...
upgraded the airport's cargo-handling capacity, enabling it to cater for the demand until 2015–16. There has been a 25 per cent growth in international cargo movement to and from Kolkata Airport and a 15 per cent increase in outward transit. Automobile parts accounted for the bulk of the growth in the movement of cargo from the city to other countries. In November 2008 the first Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC) in West Bengal was opened at the airport. The CPC has an area of and an annual storage capacity of 12,000 million tonnes. The CPC had been undergoing trials that started in June 2008 and were built with a grant-in-aid from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) part of the Commerce Ministry. The volume of export was 21,683 tonnes in 2008–09, during the current fiscal more than 23,042 tonnes of cargo were handled by the airport. Similarly, the volume of import cargo increased from 16,863 tonnes to 18,733 tonnes, increasing over ten per cent during the same period. However, in 2008–09 the total volume of cargo handled by the airport declined by 4.8% from the previous year. On 3 June 2019, Singapore Airlines operated the Airport's first
Airbus A350 The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the A330 wi ...
service from Singapore to Kolkata, enhancing the weekly seat capacity.


Expansion

The construction of the new terminal, as well as runway expansion, marked the end of Phase I of the project. AAI officials have announced that they are prepared to execute Phase 2 of the Kolkata Airport expansion plan. This involves the construction of a new ATC Tower to provide controllers with a better view of the planes at the new terminal. The building will be accompanied by a 4-storey office complex. Initially, a 112 meter tower was proposed, but the height has been revised multiple times and in 2017 it was decreased to 51.4 meter. The under construction tower is expected to be complete by late 2023.


New expansion plan

The new terminal T2 inaugurated in 2013 is on the verge of reaching its annual capacity of 24 million passengers four years ahead of the initial projections. To tackle this, AAI has planned to upgrade and expand the airport and increase its passenger capacity by 100% to handle up to 40 million passengers annually. The new ₹1,000 crore expansion plan will be carried out in 2 phases. The number of parking bays will be increased to 105 by 2024.


Phase 1

Airport officials said as per the first phase of the expansion plan, the old domestic terminal will be demolished and a 7000 sq. m. new building will be constructed in the area. The building will be linked with the existing terminal of the airport with the help of walkalators and would also have walk-in gates on the ground floor. This building will be used only for boarding and de-boarding of passengers. Passengers arriving in the boarding building would take the connecting bridge to the terminal and then leave the airport. This would reduce peak-hour congestion when several flights do not get enough apron space. This would immediately increase the passenger capacity by a few million and would solve the space crunch for the time being. The phase 1 expansion plan has been sanctioned by AAI.


Phase 2

A master plan has already been made for the construction of a third terminal that will increase the airport's passenger capacity to 45 million. The plan has received the first nod from the aviation ministry. The new terminal T1 will come up north of the current integrated terminal. The Air Traffic Navigation Building and the old international terminal that are situated beyond the old domestic terminal (which will become a passenger boarding building), will be demolished to make way for the new terminal T1, which is expected to house only domestic flights while the existing integrated terminal T2 will be allotted only to international flights. The construction of new hangars and bays is also part of the current expansion plan.


Airlines and destinations


Passenger


Cargo


Statistics

As of the financial year 2019–20, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport was again the fifth-busiest airport in India in terms of the total number of passengers served, which was about 22 million, 0.6% increase from the previous year. Out of which, 19 million passengers were domestic and 3 million were international. The cargo traffic saw a decline of 1.1% from its previous year, with 153,468 metric tonnes of cargo.


Connectivity


Roads

The airport has a well-established facility of prepaid taxis and air-conditioned buses connecting it to the city centre. As part of the larger modernisation programme, a flyover at
Nagerbazar Nagerbazar is a locality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). History Clive House is located on Ra ...
and an entry ramp on
VIP Road VIP Road (officially Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue) is a major thoroughfare connecting the city of Kolkata with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Dumdum/Kolkata Airport. Located in the North-Eastern outskirts of the city, it was buil ...
have also been constructed. A flyover from
Kestopur Kestopur (officially, Krishnapur) is a neighborhood of Kolkata in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is under Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Devel ...
to Raghunathpur (near Tegharia) was built to speed up airport-bound traffic. These reduced journey times to the airport. Parking facilities at the new terminal include two underground parking levels accommodating 3000 cars, as well as an outdoor car parking which can handle an additional 2000 cars.


Rail

Two new
Kolkata Metro The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four ...
lines are under construction which will connect to the airport: one from Noapara ( Yellow Line), and the other from
New Garia New Garia is a neighbourhood located in the eastern part of Garia, Kolkata, India. It is bounded by Chak Garia and Panchasayar to the north, Baishnabghata-Patuli and Briji to the west, Garia railway station and Kamalgazi to the south and Nayabad ...
( Orange Line). Both lines will converge at the
Biman Bandar metro station Biman Bandar is a metro station of Kolkata Metro (unofficially known as Airport metro station). It will serve the city's main airport, the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. Features This station will also have a yard, and it wil ...
. An American aviation planning firm has drafted a plan for a futuristic multi-modal transport hub at Kolkata Airport modelled on similar projects in European airports. The airport was connected to the Kolkata Suburban Railway system's circular line branch. The long elevated track connected the airport Biman Bandar railway station with
Dum Dum Cantonment railway station Dum Dum Cantonment railway station is a small railway station in North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal. Its code is DDC. It serves Dum Dum Cantonment town. The station consists of three platforms. The platform is very much well sheltered with ...
, passing
Jessore Road Jessore Road is a road connecting Shyambazar through Dum Dum, both neighbourhoods in Kolkata, India, to Jessore in Bangladesh. While the Dum Dum-Barasat sector is now part of NH 12, the Barasat-Petrapole sector is now part of NH 112. It conti ...
.
Electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
rolling stocks served the line. However, due to poor patronage and plans to replace it with metro service, the railway line was closed in September 2016 to facilitate construction of the new lines. The remaining infrastructure was dismantled in early 2020 to make space for road upgrades.


Accidents and incidents

On 2 May 1953,
BOAC Flight 783 On 2 May 1953, BOAC Flight 783, a de Havilland Comet jetliner registered G-ALYV and operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation, broke up mid-air and crashed after encountering a severe squall, shortly after taking off from Calcutta (now Ko ...
de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four d ...
bound for Delhi crashed after takeoff from Calcutta Airport with the loss of 43 lives. Parts of the aircraft were found spread over an area of eight square miles, near Jugalgari, a village some 25 miles north-west of Calcutta, suggesting disintegration before impact with the ground. On 12 June 1968, a
Pan-Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
Flight (N798PA, named Clipper Caribbean)
Boeing 707-321C The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20 ...
struck a tree 1128m short of the runway during a night-time visual approach in rain. The aircraft subsequently crashed and caught fire. The fuselage remained largely intact, although the aircraft's landing gear broke off. Out of the 10 crew and 53 passengers aboard, 1 crew member and 5 passengers suffered fatal injuries due to the fire. On 22 December 2015, a
Jet Airways Jet Airways (India) Ltd is an Indian airline based in Delhi NCR, with a training and developmental center in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It b ...
bus slammed into the side of an
Air India Regional Alliance Air (formerly Air India Regional) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIAHL (AI Assets Holding Ltd.) which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV ) formed by Government of India after the disinvestment of Air India Limited. It was founded in ...
ATR 42-500 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aér ...
aircraft. There were no fatalities. An investigation revealed that the driver was sleeping.


See also

*
Behala Airport Behala Airport is located at Behala in the city of Kolkata, India. It is located approximately from the city centre.It is more commonly referred as Behala Flying Training Institute (BFTI) or Behala Flying Club (BFC). The ministry of Civil Avi ...
* Airports in India * List of airports in West Bengal *
List of busiest airports in India by passenger traffic India's busiest airports is the list of top fifty busiest airports of over a hundred commercially operational airports in the country. Data also includes statistics for total aircraft movements and total cargo movements. The tables below contain ...


References


External links

* * * {{Indian Air Force Airports in West Bengal 1937 establishments in India Airports established in 1937 Buildings and structures in Kolkata Transport in Kolkata Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in British India Memorials to Subhas Chandra Bose World War II sites in India