Bagdogra Airport

Bagdogra International Airport
IATA: IXB ICAO: VEBD
Summary
Airport type	Civil Enclave
Owner	Indian Air Force
Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Siliguri
Location	Bagdogra, Siliguri, West Bengal, India
Elevation AMSL	126 m / 412 ft
Coordinates	26°40′52″N 088°19′43″E
Map
IXB is located in West Bengal IXB IXB
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 18/36 2,754 9,035 Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (April 2020 - March 2021)
Passengers 1,473,310 (54.2%) Aircraft movements 10,784 (53.6%) Cargo tonnage 6,024 (19.8%)
Source: AAI

Aircraft at the Bagdogra International Airport

Bagdogra International Airport (IATA: IXB, ICAO: VEBD) is an international airport located at the western part of the city Siliguri, the city which the airport serves, at Bagdogra area in Siliguri in northern West Bengal, India. It is operated as a civil enclave at AFS Bagdogra of the Indian Air Force. It is also the gateway airport to the hill stations of Darjeeling, Gangtok, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Mirik and other parts of the North Bengal region and sees thousands of tourists annually. The airport is a major transport hub in the region. The central government of India conferred international airport status to the airport in 2002 with limited international operations. Bagdogra airport experiences humid sub-tropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa) - Hot humid summers and cooler winter. Significant precipitation in all seasons but drier in the winter. Air traffic at Bagdogra crossed 1 million for the first time growing at 43.6% percent in 2014–15. In 2019–20, the airport served 3.2 million passengers which was an increase of 11.2% from the previous year, making it the 17th-busiest airport in India. This is one of the few airports in India with zero sales tax on aviation turbine fuel.

Air Force Station

The airbase is home to the IAF No. 20 Wing, as also to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Mig-21) FL fighter aircraft of the No. 8 Squadron and a Helicopter Unit. Along with the airbase at Hasimara, Alipurduar district; it is responsible for combat air operations over a large area including North Bengal, Sikkim, and if needed, Bhutan. The base caters to all military air traffic for the Indian Army's XXXIII Corps based nearby in Sukna.

Expansion

The state government had handed over 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) of land to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for developing infrastructure for night landing in 2010. AAI also expanded the apron at the same time, enabling the parking of 5 narrow body aircraft simultaneously. The IAF, which maintains the ATC and runway, gave permission for night landings by civilian aircraft allowing flights past 6 pm in 2013. The new terminal building will also be constructed at Bagdogra Airport by 2024 with 16 parking bays, 10 aerobridges and a taxi way. It will become a fully fledged airport after its expansion. After the expansion of Bagdogra Airport, more international flights can land here.

Statistics

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Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations	Refs.
AirAsia India	Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata
Air India	Delhi, Kolkata
Go First	Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata
IndiGo	Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai
SpiceJet	Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur(Begins 31st Oct), Kolkata, Patna, Mumbai
Vistara	Bangalore, Delhi, Dibrugarh

Accidents and Incidents

• 23 May 2008: A MiG-21 of the Indian Air Force had to perform a belly landing due to a technical snag and a jammed landing gear. The aircraft hard landed on the runway causing it to catch fire. The pilot ejected safely.The aircraft was written off subsequently.

• 5 July 2013: AI879, an A320 arriving from New Delhi swerved off the taxiway while taxiing towards the apron after landing. No injuries were reported. The passengers were immediately de-boarded. The aircraft sustained minor damage and took about 7 hours to bring the stuck aircraft to the taxiiway.

• 11 July 2014: A mishap was avoided between Indigo flight 6E472 and Air India flight AI879. Air India flight 879, carrying 120 passengers, was descending and the Indigo flight 472 with 130 passengers on board was given clearance to climb the 30,000-feet height. As they came close to each other violating the 1000 metre separation, the pilots of the Indigo plane and the Air India aircraft, however, manoeuvred themselves to avoid a near-miss. Both aircraft received a Traffic Collision Avoidance System warning. Following the Resolution Advisory given by the TCAS the Indigo flight immediately descended and the Air India flight turned right. Once the Captains received "clear-of-conflict" message, they manoeuvred back to their filed flight plans. Both aircraft landed safely without any injuries.

• 15 February 2019: An Air Asia India A320 scheduled for a flight from Bagdogra Airport to Kempegowda International Airport damaged its left wing sharklets while backtracking the runway. The two pilots were later suspended for 6 months by the DGCA in view of violating laid down procedures.

• 16 December 2019: An IndiGo A320neo bound for Kolkata performed an emergency landing in view of engine related issues. The aircraft was using Pratt & Whittney engines. Out of the two engines, one engine was not modified which caused the issue.

External links

• Bagdogra Airport at Airports Authority of India website.