Cooch Behar Airport is a domestic airport serving the city of Cooch Behar, West Bengal,

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 ...

and parts of North Bengal and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. It is located from the city centre. The airport covers an area of 173 acres.

Facilities

The airport is located at an elevation of 141 feet (43 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 04/22 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

surface, measuring without an

Instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS), which is necessary for landing of aircraft at night. The airport can only handle VFR flights during the day. Improvements in radar as well as other runway systems have been completed, such as installation of lights on the runway, while the ILS will be installed in the near future. There is presently a high security team residing in the airport provided by

Central Industrial Security Force The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is a federal police organisation in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). CISF provides security to over 356 industrial units (including ...

and Coochbehar District police. The airport uses a

Non-directional beacon A non-directional beacon (NDB) or non-directional radio beacon is a radio beacon which does not include directional information. Radio beacons are radio transmitters at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. NDB are i ...

(NDB) for navigation services. It presently operates for only private operations, such as for government and VIP aircraft. It resumed for commercial operations on 21 February 2023. File:COB airport4.jpg, Entrance of the airport File:Coochbehar airport.jpg, Terminal building of the airport

Recent developments

In March 2020, lights were installed in the boundaries of the airport and the runway was repaired. Security was also increased in and around the premises. Cooch Behar Airport Terminal

While the longstanding demand of residents to resume flights from the airport in North Bengal remains unfulfilled for over 25 years, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) revamped and operationalised the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

at Rupsi in

Kokrajhar district Kokrajhar district is an administrative district in Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam. It is predominantly inhabited by the Boro tribe. The district has its headquarters located at Kokrajhar Town and occupies an area of . It has two civil s ...

to restart services after three decades, to handle the traffic. However, it mostly handles the traffic from

Dhubri Dhubri (Pron: ˈdhubri) is an old town and headquarter of Dhubri district in Indian state of Assam. It is an old town on the bank of the Brahmaputra river, with historical significance. In 1883, the town was first constituted as a Municipal Bo ...

, the city it serves, and it adjoining regions from

Kokrajhar Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an autonomous territory in Assam, one of the North Eastern states of India. Kokrajhar town is located along the bank of the river Gaurang. The North East Indian Railways divides the ci ...

Bongaigaon Bongaigaon () is a major city in the Indian state of Assam. Its urban area spans across Bongaigaon and Chirang district. The city also serves as the gateway of the North-East Frontier Railway Zone with its New Bongaigaon Junction railway st ...

, etc. and does not acts as a solution to Cooch Behar, because that airport is from it, so it is too far to cater the traffic. The airport's license was valid till 27 January 2021, but the

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is a statutory body of the Government of India to regulate civil aviation in India. It became a statutory body under the Aircraft (Amendment) Act, 2020. The DGCA investigates aviation accidents a ...

(DGCA) decided not to renew the license until further notice. As of February 2023, it has received its license again in January 2023 to restart commercial operations, and reopened for flights on 21 February 2023, with daily flights to

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 ...

operated by the new low-cost regional airline, IndiaOne Air.

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

* Airports in West Bengal Buildings and structures in Cooch Behar district Transport in Cooch Behar Year of establishment missing {{India-airport-stub

Facilities

Recent developments

Airlines and destinations

See also

References

External links