NSCBI Airport is one of the oldest airports of the country. It is an IS/ISO 9001: 2000 Certified Airport known as the gateway to Eastern and North Eastern parts of India. The first flight a DATKOTA-3 landed here as early as in 1924. The airport had a small beginning with a primitive airstrip in 1942 and by 1960-69, it occupied prominent position in the Indian Aviation by catering to about 0.5 Lakhs passengers, then highest among MUMBAI (BOMBAY), NEW .DELHI & CHENNAI Airports. The first terminal building for operation was commissioned in 1970 and Major world air carriers like Japan Airlines, Pan Am Airlines, Air France, Qantas Airlines, Swiss Air and Cathay Pacific operated from the airport. Airports Authority of India took over the management of this airport in 1972 and took many initiatives to improve the passenger facilities, aircraft operation and its safety and security. The first cargo terminal of the country was commissioned here in 1975. In Jan, 1995 new Domestic Terminal was commissioned and the airport was renamed as "NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT" in memory of the great son of Bengal Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a great patriot and freedom fighter. The new International Arrival Hall was commissioned in Sep, 2000. In order to meet the ever increasing demand of passenger traffic, further airport is being modernized with the construction of new airport terminal at an investment

Airport structure

The airport has three terminals: a domestic terminal (opened in the early 1990s), an international terminal (the oldest terminal) and a cargo terminal. It was given a major face lift in the recent past. The current domestic terminal has been extended in 2009 to cater to the increasing demand of passengers. New ticketing counters, check-in kiosks and cafes have been added. Traffic lanes have been made to cater to the inbound and outbound traffic out of the airport. The airport currently has four aerobridges (three in the domestic terminal and one in the international terminal).This will be increased to twenty once the new terminals are completed. 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 and for aircraft landing during daytime..

Connectivity

The airport is connected to the Kolkata Suburban Railway system, and is also accessible by taxi and bus. Low floor Volvo buses regularly run between the airport and the city. Recently air conditioned volvo bus services to the city have been introduced. Metered yellow cabs, Kolkata cabs, Radio cabs and Mega cabs can be availed through pre-paid procedure. The under-construction Kolkata East-West metro will be extended up to the airport. Also, a flyover is under construction to prevent traffic congestion near the airport.

Modernisation

The massive increase in the passenger traffic over last few years has necessitated the need to further revamp the airport and Airports Authority of India is modernizing the airport by constructing a new fourth terminal. The work is in progress since Nov, 2008 and likely to complete by May, 2011. The future NSCBI Airport will look like this:

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Last updated on - 12 August 2010