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Veer Savarkar International Airport

Coordinates: 11°38′28″N 092°43′47″E / 11.64111°N 92.72972°E / 11.64111; 92.72972
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Veer Savarkar International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
OperatorAirports Authority of India
ServesAndaman and Nicobar Islands
LocationPort Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
Opened20 January 2005; 19 years ago (20 January 2005)
Elevation AMSL4 m / 14 ft
Coordinates11°38′28″N 092°43′47″E / 11.64111°N 92.72972°E / 11.64111; 92.72972
Map
IXZ is located in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
IXZ
IXZ
Location of airport in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
IXZ is located in India
IXZ
IXZ
IXZ (India)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 3,290 10,795 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024)
Passengers1,453,811 (Increase 14.2%)
Aircraft movements12,080 (Increase 10.6%)
Cargo tonnage6,246 (Decrease 1.8%)
Source: AAI[1][2][3]

Veer Savarkar International Airport (IATA: IXZ, ICAO: VOPB) is an airport located 2 km (1.2 mi) south of Port Blair and the primary airport serving the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India.[4] Earlier known as Port Blair Airport, it was renamed in 2002 after Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who had been detained in the Cellular Jail in the city for 11 years during India’s freedom struggle.[5] It operates as a civil enclave, sharing airside facilities with INS Utkrosh of the Indian Navy.[6]

Overview

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The airport has a single runway of 3,290 m (10,794 ft) in length, accommodating most narrow-body aircraft, that includes Airbus A320, Airbus A321, and Boeing 737. Except for the civilian terminals operated by the Airports Authority of India, all other air traffic operations over Port Blair are undertaken by the Indian Navy.[7]

Terminals

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Old Terminal

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Old Terminal had a capacity of 400 passengers. It covers an area of 6,100 square metres.[8] It had 2 Boarding Gates with no aerobridges. Buses are used to provide transportation from the terminal to the aircraft parked on the apron. At present Old Terminal is not operational. At present All operations were shifted from Old Terminal to New Terminal. The future usage of Old Terminal has not decided.

New Terminal

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Aerial view of New Terminal along with the Old Terminal on left

Due to increasing traffic, a new 40,837 sq.m. passenger terminal at a cost of ₹ 707 crore began construction in 2019. It has three floors–one for arrivals, second for departures and third for waiting. Inside the terminal, there are 28 check-in counters, four conveyor belts and three aerobridges. It will be able to handle 1,200 passengers (600 domestic and 600 international) at peak hours, and will be able to serve 5 million passengers per annum.[9] It was completed in June 2023 and was inaugurated on 18 July 2023.[10][11]

  • Function: Airport
  • Architect: Vector Designs, Pune
  • Material: Steel, Glass, Membrane
  • Client: Airport Authority of India
  • Salient Features:
    • Inspired by sea shells, the roof form and structure depicts the best of it.
    • Spanning across 240x90m, it is by the largest clear span enclosure among airports in India and one of the few of world’s international airport buildings.
    • 22 sculpted steel 3 D trusses each having different span resting on 2 elliptical beams and one grand central Arc. Peripheral elliptical edge beams are resting on V columns. Intricacy of Sculpted expressions of engineered end connections of trusses and V columns is achieved by machined steel casting process. The entire building envelope has 6500 tons of steel manufactured inland at various cities and carried to portblair assembled by 400 ton cranes. Commissioning and decommissioning of cranes at Remote Island was a project by itself.
    • On airside and city side there are grand entry canopies which greet the visitor passing through.
    • 20 clear strip skylights located right above space trusses gives pleasant daylight thus not only saving day time lighting energy but gives uniform lux lighting across the interior space and hi lights meticulously detailed space truss detailing and geometry.
    • Roof has delicate mesh overhang extensions receding façade. This prevents any direct sunlight exposure on the glass facade during harsh sunlight durations to minimise heat gain through glass façade. Choice of Glasses have better shading coefficient to further reduce heat gain.
    • Entire building facade is enveloped in bi-directionally curved pre-stressed cable net. 4300 differently sized glass panes form this complex glass surface, designed to withstand super cyclones in the sea yet having delicate looking strong cable net. 24.5 Km of Cables are of stainless steel grade, having special cast junctions holding glass panes at corners only.

Airlines and destinations

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Apron area of the airport
AirlinesDestinationsRefs.
AirAsiaKuala Lumpur–International (begins 16 November 2024)[12]
Air IndiaChennai, Delhi, Kolkata (ends 14 December 2024), Visakhapatnam
Air India Express Bangalore, Kolkata (both begin 1 December 2024)
Akasa AirChennai, Kolkata (begins 13 November 2024)[13]
IndiGoBangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata
SpiceJetChennai, Kolkata[14]
VistaraBangalore,[15] Delhi, Kolkata (all end 11 November 2024)[16]

Statistics

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Annual passenger traffic at IXZ airport. See Wikidata query.

References

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  1. ^ "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Here's what the Veer Savarkar International Airport to be inaugurated by PM Modi looks like". The Indian Express.
  5. ^ "Lok Sabha Debates - Regarding Renaming Of Port Blair Airport In Andaman After The Name Of Port Blair airport on 8 May, 2002". www.indiankanoon.org. Government of India. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  6. ^ "New Terminal Building at Port Blair Airport by March 2018". Press Information Bureau. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Andaman & Nicobar Command: Saga of Synergy". Sainik Samachar. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  8. ^ "PortBlair Airport".
  9. ^ "Port Blair airport confirms new terminal – Business Traveller". Business Traveller.
  10. ^ "Port Blair Airport's new terminal on track to open in October 2022". Airport Technology. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Port Blair Airport's New Terminal Building Inaugurated, PM Modi Says 'Ease of Travel Will Improve'". Times Now. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  12. ^ "AIRASIA SCHEDULES KUALA LUMPUR – PORT BLAIR NOV 2024 LAUNCH". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Akasa Air Flight Network". Akasa Air. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  14. ^ "SpiceJet schedule list". SpiceJet. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Air India and Vistara announce new flights from Bangalore". JetArena. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Vistara Flight Schedule". Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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