Agartala Airport
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013) |
| Agartala Airport Singerbhil Airport |
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IATA: IXA – ICAO: VEAT
 IXA
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner/Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||
| Serves | Agartala, Tripura, India | ||
| Location | Singerbhill | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 47 ft / 14 m | ||
| Coordinates | 23°53′24″N 091°14′32″E / 23.89000°N 91.24222°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 18/36 | 7,500 | 2,286 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (Apr '10 - Mar '11) | |||
| Passenger movements | 889,056 | ||
| Aircraft movements | 9,729 | ||
| Cargo tonnage | 6,755 | ||
| Source: AAI[1][1][1] | |||
Agartala Airport (IATA: IXA, ICAO: VEAT) is located 12 km (6.5 nautical miles) northwest from the city of Agartala, the capital of the state of Tripura in India. It is administered by the Airports Authority of India (AAI)[2] providing world class amenities to passengers. The authority also ensures comfort and safety to the travelers. It is the third busiest airport in Northeast India after Guwahati and Imphal. From 2010 to 2011 it was ranked 22nd busiest airport in India out of 50 major airports.[3]
Agartala is connected to Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad & Imphal.
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History [edit]
In the year 1942, the 184th King of Tripura of Manikya Dynasty Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur planned to build an airport in Singerbhill, Tripura (Twipanga) at a time when there were hardly anyone in the region. The King is considered the father of modern architecture in Tripura who built the airport and also designed it during World War II.[4] It had one primary runway 05/23 which is now used as a taxiway to Runway 18/36.
During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Tenth Air Force 4th Combat Cargo Group, which flew C-46 Commando transport aircraft over Burma. The airport was used as a supply point from which the unit air-dropped pallets of supplies and ammunition to the advancing Allied forces on the ground.[5]
The 4th CCG operated from the airport during December 1944 and January 1945, after which, the unit moved to Chittagong.
Facilities at airport [edit]
Passengers can get there luggage trolleys to carry there baggage. One can find a wrapping machine instrument. Baggage service is quite good and one can easily carry out once luggage in and out of the airport.[6]
Connectivity with the city [edit]
Bus: Agartala Airport is approximately 11.5 km away from the main bus stand of the city. One can find a good number of private buses, one can also hire auto-rickshaws.[7]
Rail: Railways is limited to Agartala Railway Station located approximately 15.4 KM from the airport. One can fine a good number of auto rickshaws and buses which will reach the airport within an hour.
Airlines and destinations [edit]
Passenger Airlines [edit]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air India | Kolkata |
| IndiGo | Ahmedabad, Delhi, Imphal, Kolkata, Bangalore, Guwahati |
| Jet Airways | Delhi, Guwahati |
| JetKonnect | Kolkata, Guwahati |
| SpiceJet | Bangalore, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai |
Cargo Airlines [edit]
India post Cargo Freight flight is operated by Air India Cargo[8] making the basic cargo delivery and recently Quickjet cargo also introduces its service from agartala.
Accidents and incidents [edit]
- 14 January 1945: Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando a military aircraft of United States Army Air Forces- USAAF Registration 42-101208 crashed while Landing in Agartala, the crew was badly injured but there were no serious casualties; later on the aircraft was written off. (damaged beyond repair)
- 30 December 1949: Douglas C-54A-DO a cargo aircraft of Bharat Airways flying from Agartala airport to Calcutta airport crashed in Comilla Bangladesh. The aircraft had a technical problem and had a crash landing in a village; all 7 crewmembers inside died after the aircraft exploded, and many villagers were also injured.
- 9 July 1958: a cargo plane Douglas C-47A-75-DL of Indian Airlines flying from Agartala Airport to Dhaka-Tejgaon Airport crashed near Dhaka, Bangladesh. All 3 crew members died on spot. After loading cargo, the Dakota departed Agartala at 07:53 GMT. During the preflight briefing the pilots were told about the Met Aviation Hazard, but no weather deterioration at Dhaka was reported. Last contact with the flight was at 08:05 GMT when entering the Dhaka Control Zone. Later the problem was reported as 'Structural failure in the air'.
- 29 March 1959: A Douglas C-47A of Indian Airlines with 20 passengers and 4 crewmembers crashed 56 km west of Silchar causing all 24 casualties. The DC-3 was operating on a flight from Calcutta (CCU) to Imphal (IMF) via Agartala (IXA) and Silchar (IXS). The aircraft took off from Agartala at 10:10 for a 50-minute flight to Silchar. En route weather was poor (thunderstorms in the area southwest of Silchar). The aircraft didn't arrive at its destination and was found to have crashed due to Structural failure.
- 21 April 1969: A Fokker F-27 of Indian Airlines took off from Agartala Airport with 40 passengers and 4 crew bound for Khulna Airport, Bangladesh. It faced strong down currents while approaching Khulna. The crew tried to fly through the thunderstorm at low level but lost control in severe downdrafts and the aircraft crashed near the airport, killing all 44 people on board.
- 7 June 1970: A Fokker F-27 of Indian Airlines flying with 34 passengers and 4 crew members approaching towards Agartala overran the runway after it touched down at a higher than normal speed 2,775 feet from the threshold and hence the aircraft was totally damaged; however, none of the passengers or crew members lost their lives. The aeroplane was later written off and sent to repair.[9]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Traffic stats for 2011
- ^ Civil Airport Agartala at Airports Authority of India
- ^ en.wikipedia.org/wiki.List_of_busiest_airports_in_India_by_passenger_traffic
- ^ tiprasa.com/article/viewcomm/asp?identity=701
- ^ Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4
- ^ www.ekikrat.in/Agartala airport
- ^ http://www.theindiatravelguide.com/test/agartala.htm
- ^ http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/agartala_cargoinfo.jsp
- ^ http://www.ava\iation-safety.net/database/airport/airport.php?id=IXA
External links [edit]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- Current weather for VEAT at NOAA/NWS
- Airport information for VEAT at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
- Airport information for IXA/VEAT at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
- Accident history for IXA/VEAT: Agartala-Singerbhil Airport at Aviation Safety Network
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