Juhu Aerodrome

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Coordinates: 19°05′53″N 72°50′02″E / 19.09806°N 72.83389°E / 19.09806; 72.83389

Juhu Airport
जुहू विमानतळ
Juhu Aerodrome.jpg
IATA: none – ICAO: VAJJ
Juhu Airport is located in Mumbai
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Juhu Airport
Juhu Airport (Mumbai)
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Airports Authority of India
Serves Mumbai
Location Juhu, India India
Elevation AMSL 13 ft / 4 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08/26 3,750 1,143 Paved

Juhu Aerodrome (Marathi: जुहू विमानतळ) (ICAO: VAJJ) is an airport serving Mumbai, India. It is India's first civil aviation airport. The aerodrome is currently used by small private aircraft and as a heliport. The aerodrome is located at Juhu, an upmarket residential suburb in northwest Mumbai flanking the city's Juhu Beach along the Arabian sea. Founded in 1928, it could not be used all year initially, owing to mudflats it was located on being submerged during the monsoons. Waterlogging continued to be a major constraint until the land was raised in 1937.

In 1932, JRD Tata landed at Juhu, inaugurating India's first scheduled commercial mail service from Karachi and marking the start of Air India (then known as Tata Airlines), which was initially based out of a palm thatched hut at Juhu Aerodrome. Juhu served as the city's primary airport during and up to World War II. In 1948, it was replaced by the much larger Santacruz Airport. Santacruz airport is within a 2 km radius of Juhu aerodrome and often caused confusion among pilots leading to a permanent notice to airmen being issued by the Airports Authority of India cautioning that Santacruz's runway 09 should not be confused with runway 08 at Juhu.

Today the aerodrome handles all helicopter operations, including private helicopter charters out of Mumbai as well as to ferry offshore personnel to oil rigs at Bombay High. It hosts the Bombay Flying Club and several executive and light aircraft and gliders. In 2010, the Airports Authority of India, which runs the airport proposed to extend the runway 08/26 into the sea to allow larger aircraft to land, however permission for this was denied by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. With the New Coastal Regulation Zone rules of 2011 permitting roads on stilts, the Airports Authority of India announced in January 2012 that it would once again pursue its plan of extending the runway at Juhu Aerodrome into the sea.

Contents

[edit] History

Runway 08/26 with the Arabian Sea in the background

Juhu Aerodrome is India's first civil aviation airport,[1] located at Juhu, an upmarket residential suburb in northwest Mumbai flanking the city's Juhu Beach along the Arabian sea.[2] The aerodrome started off as an unpaved airfield in 1928. It was used by the newly established Bombay Flying Club for tuition, joy-rides, and air travel. The activities of the club were, limited by the fact that the aerodrome at Juhu was not suitable during the monsoon.[3] Much progress had been made in the layout of the ground of the aerodrome by 1932, although the ground was still not fit for use during that year's monsoon.[4] J. R. D. Tata, the father of civil aviation in India, made his maiden voyage to Juhu airport from Drigh Road Airstrip in Karachi, via Ahmedabad, on 15 October 1932 carrying mail in a Puss Moth aircraft.[5] The Tata Airmail Service, as it was called, continued on to Pune, Bellary and Madras.[6]

This was the birth of Air India, which, in 1932 was based here out of a hut with a palm thatched roof and had 1 pilot and 2 apprentice mechanics along with 2 piston engined aircraft, one Puss Moth and one Leopard Moth aircraft.[7][8] Waterlogging and the absence of proper runways for monsoon take-offs were Juhu's serious drawbacks. The former problem was addressed by 1937 while proper runways, night flying facilities, hangars etc. were provided in the following year.[9] At least two airlines were based at Juhu during this period; Air Services of India, Ltd. and Tata Sons, Ltd. [10]

Two bitumen runways - one aligned East-West and the other North-NorthWest - South-SouthEast were laid in 1936. During the monsoons, operations had to be shifted to Poona due to water logging. The runways relaid with concrete in 1938 to allow all weather operations. A third runway was planned for construction in 1939 but this never occurred. It served as the city's airport up to and even during the 1939-45 war.[11] The airport served as the city's sole airport till Santacruz airport, now Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, was built in 1948.[12][13] Santacruz airport is within a 2 km radius of Juhu aerodrome and often causing confusion among pilots leading to a permanent notice to airmen being issued by the Airports Authority of India cautioning that Santacruz's runway 09 should not be confused with runway 08 at Juhu.[14] Juhu Aerodrome continued to be used however, such as by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1948[15] as well as by the ailing Vallabhbhai Patel (then Deputy Prime Minister) who landed at Juhu in December 1950 to avoid large crowds that had gathered at Santacruz Airport to greet him.[16]

[edit] Current status

At present, Juhu has only a single operational runway and is run by the Airports Authority of India. It hosts the Bombay Flying Club along with several executive and light aircraft, gliders, and a heliport for private charters and to ferry Oil and Natural Gas Corporation personnel by carrier Pawan Hans to offshore oil rigs at Bombay High.[12] Jal Hans, India's first seaplane service was launched at the Juhu Aerodrome in December 2010.[17]

[edit] Helicopter operations

Juhu Aerodrome handles all helicopter operations, including private helicopter charters out of Mumbai.[18] Due to congestion at the CSI Airport, in December 2010 all helicopter operations were moved to Juhu. The aerodrome can handle 6 helicopter operations at a time. The airport currently handles about 100 helicopter operations a day.[19]

[edit] Private aircraft operations and Upgrade

There is currently a plan to move all small private aircraft (such as Beechcraft B-200 and Cessna C-90) operations from CSI Airport to Juhu Aerodrome to decongest CSI Airport.[18] This was to take place by January 10, 2011.[12] However, due to lack of infrastructure and security considerations, this has been delayed. As part of this move, the aerodrome is currently being upgraded to Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) from the current Visual Flight Rules (VFR). Currently the air controllers at CSI Airport have to align aircraft to the Juhu flight path using their radar before they hand over the aircraft to Juhu. The airport is also being fitted with a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) to facilitate night landing facilities that have demanded by helicopter operators. There is also a plan to align runway 08-26 with runway 09-27 of CSI Airport to facilitate independent operations. A new terminal building is being built to handle passenger movement, it currently only has a VIP terminal for private charter movements. The runway is also being extended besides permissions pending.[20][21][22]

[edit] Security

The airport is currently being guarded by the Maharashtra Home Guard who will soon hand over charge to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that handles security for all major airports in India. A contingent 174 personnel has been sanctioned for Juhu aerodrome with CISF infrastructure being accommodated in a renovated hangar. The CISF personnel will be armed with AK-47s and INSAS rifles. It will also have a vehicle-borne Quick Reaction Team (QRT). A perimeter wall is being built around the premises as well.[19][23] The CISF personnel have however refused to take over charge of the Airport security until a periphery wall is built.

[edit] Extension and conservation

With air traffic congestion reaching an unacceptable threshold in Mumbai, the Airports Authority of India (AAI)put on fast track its age-old plan of reviving the Juhu airport to ease some pressure off Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) in 2010. The AAI appointed consulting major KPMG to draw up a development plan for Juhu airport. It was envisioned that the Juhu airstrip could take up to 18% load off CSI Airport with turboprop ATR and then Boeing 737 aircraft. The plan was to extend the runway to 2000 meters in phases would ultimately see the airstrip jutting into the sea with reclaimed parts of the famous Juhu beach and seafront, however the permission for the same was denied by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.[24][25] Instead, the ministry asked for the conservation of land around the airstrip stating no development should take place there and that it should be conserved as a green open space to compensate the pollution caused by the airstrip.[26]

With the New Coastal Regulation Zone rules of 2011 permitting roads on stilts in CRZ-I areas (within 100 metres of the shoreline), the AAI decided in January 2012 to pursue its plan to extend the existing Juhu airport runway in Mumbai westwards from the current 1,143 metres to 2,020 metres by building it on stilts over the Juhu-Tara Road and into the sea involving a capital cost of Rs 2,000 crore.[27]

However, one of the technical problems facing the project is that the current runway is at an elevation of four metres above the mean sea level. An extension of the runway into the sea would mean accounting for the high tide. Another major hurdle is the runway alignment problem where in the climb path out of Juhu's main runway 06/28 interferes with CSIAs main runway 09/27 operations. The Juhu runway needs to be re-aligned to 09/27 in order to allow simultaneous operations with CSIAs main runway.

[edit] Accidents and incidents

  • On 15 July 1953, a BOAC DH.106 Comet landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Mumbai's much larger Santa Cruz International Airport. The aircraft was flown out some nine days later.[28]
  • On 24 December 1972, a Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport. The aircraft overran the end of the runway and was damaged beyond economic repair.[29][30]
  • On 13 October 2006, a private five seater Beechcraft B 55 aircraft owned by Container Movement Transport Pvt. Ltd. crash landed at the Juhu aerodrome after experiencing engine trouble and losing radio communications. The aircraft, on its way to Vadodara returned to Mumbai from where it took off was badly damaged as it caught fire on landing. All passengers escaped safely and there were no casualties.[31][32]

[edit] Culture and media

The Aerodrome was used for the opening scene of Slumdog Millionaire and can be seen in subsequent scenes as well.[33][34] Part of the climax of the 2008 film A Wednesday was shot here. The aerodrome was referred to as Juhu Aviation Base in this particular film.[35] The climax of Hindustan Ki Kasam was also shot here in 1999.[14]

[edit] References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

  1. ^ "Juhu airstrip to get a facelift". Rediff.com. 13 October 2007. http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/oct/13juhu.htm. Retrieved 10 February 2012. 
  2. ^ Volume 7 (1953). Asian and Indian skyways. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zhs-AQAAIAAJ&q=. Retrieved February 20, 2011.  Page 52
  3. ^ "Bombay Flying Club First Annual Report". Flight Global. 1 August 1929. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929-1%20-%200670.html. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  4. ^ "Bombay Aerodrome at Juhu". Flight Global. 19 August 1932. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1932/1932%20-%200843.html. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  5. ^ "The Tata Airmail Service". Flight Global. 14 September 1933. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1933/1933%20-%200531.html. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  6. ^ "When air mail came to Madras". Madras musings. 1–15 November 2010. http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2020%20No%2014/when-air-mail-came-to-madras.html. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  7. ^ Pran Nath Seth, Pran Nath Seth, Sushma Seth Bhat (2005). An introduction to travel and tourism. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 9788120724822. http://books.google.com/?id=AcGn-Fmc43sC&pg=PA112&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved January 20, 2011.  Page 112
  8. ^ Bepin Behari (1996). Astrological Biographies: Seventeen Examples of Predictive Insights. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. ISBN 9788120813229. http://books.google.com/?id=vI_OINmOtDYC&dq=. Retrieved January 20, 2011.  Page 341
  9. ^ "Juhu Improvements". Flight Global. 28 Octoberber 1937. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1937/1937%20-%202980.html. Retrieved 17 September 2011. 
  10. ^ "Airline Companies of the World". Flight Global. 27 April 1939. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1939/1939%20-%201264.html. Retrieved 17 September 2011. 
  11. ^ Stroud, John (1980). Airports of the world: Putnam Aeronautical Books. Putnam. p. 161. ISBN 0370300378. 
  12. ^ a b c "On a high". Indian Express. 2007-06-10. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=240391. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 
  13. ^ "WW II ghost over land near Sahar". Mid Day. 21 March 2011. http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/mar/210311-Air-Cargo-Complex-World-War-II-MIAL-British-Raj-Sahar.htm. Retrieved 28 March 2011. 
  14. ^ a b "Disaster takes a stroll on our runways". The Indian Express. 12 April 1999. http://www.indianexpress.com/Storyold/91052/. Retrieved 11 February 2012. 
  15. ^ Nehru, Jawaharlal (1989). Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Volume 6. Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund. pp. 7, 8. 
  16. ^ Panjabi, Kewalram Lalchand (1962). The indomitable Sardar: a political biography of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 194. 
  17. ^ "First Indian seaplane service takes off". The Economic Times. 28 December 2010. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-12-28/news/27631265_1_seaplane-nicobar-islands-port-blair. Retrieved 28 March 2011. 
  18. ^ a b "Come Jan 10, small aircraft to fly from Juhu". Indian Express. 2010-12-14. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Come-Jan-10--small-aircraft-to-fly-from-Juhu/724394/. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 
  19. ^ a b "150 CISF personnel to guard Juhu Airport". MSN News. 2011-01-05. http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4767823. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 
  20. ^ "Juhu airport to the rescue again, this time with parking bays for small aircraft". Indian Express. 2010-12-17. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/juhu-airport-to-the-rescue-again-this-time-with-parking-bays-for-small-aircraft/725983/2. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 
  21. ^ "Runway ‘overlap’ delays shift to Juhu". Indian Express. 2011-01-11. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Runway--overlap--delays-shift-to-Juhu/735954. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 
  22. ^ "Plan to divert pvt planes to Juhu deferred". Hindustan Times. 2011-01-11. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Plan-to-divert-pvt-planes-to-Juhu-deferred/Article1-648808.aspx. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 
  23. ^ "Stage is set for CISF to take over Juhu airport". Indian Express. 2011-01-07. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/stage-is-set-for-cisf-to-take-over-juhu-airport/734326/. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 
  24. ^ "Juhu aerodrome to take load off airport?". Mid Day. 2010-07-10. http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/jul/100710-DGCA-AAI-aircraft-Juhu-aerodrome-KPMG.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-23. 
  25. ^ "Navi Mumbai airport gets ministry nod". LiveMint (Hindustan Times). 2010-11-27. http://www.livemint.com/2010/11/22231043/Navi-Mumbai-airport-gets-minis.html. Retrieved 2011-01-23. 
  26. ^ "Ramesh wants 380-acre open space around Juhu heliport". Hindustan Times. February 24, 2011. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Ramesh-wants-380-acre-open-space-around-Juhu-heliport/Article1-666495.aspx. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
  27. ^ "AAI looking to extend Juhu airport runway on stilts". Travel Biz Monitor. January 13, 2012. http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/aai-looking-to-extend-juhu-airport-runway-on-stilts-15399. Retrieved January 14, 2012. 
  28. ^ "The Legacy of Douglas Corrigan: "Wrong Way" Landings By Commercial Airliners". Third Amendment. http://www.thirdamendment.com/wrongway.html. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  29. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19720924-1. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  30. ^ "Rs 200-cr plan for Juhu aerodrome, more if tunnel built". Indian Express. 2010-02-05. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rs-200cr-plan-for-juhu-aerodrome-more-if-tunnel-built/575786/2. Retrieved 2011-01-23. 
  31. ^ "Plane crash-lands at Juhu airport in Mumbai". Times of India. 2006-10-13. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Plane-crash-lands-at-Juhu-airport-in-Mumbai/articleshow/2166016.cms. Retrieved 2011-02-11. 
  32. ^ "Pvt plane crashes while landing at Juhu Aerodrome". Hindustan Times. 2006-10-13. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Pvt-plane-crashes-while-landing-at-Juhu-Aerodrome/Article1-160817.aspx. Retrieved 2011-02-11. 
  33. ^ "Slumdog Millionaire, India’s Oscar Nod". Hollywoodtoday.net. http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/2009/02/22/slumdog-millionaire-indias-oscar-nod/. Retrieved 17 September 2011. 
  34. ^ "The slumdog story". Livemint.com. 23 January 2009. http://www.livemint.com/2009/01/22214847/The-slumdog-story.html. Retrieved 16 December 2011. 
  35. ^ "A Wednesday". Starboxoffice.com. http://www.starboxoffice.com/movie/share/printpage.aspx?bid=2008/August/reviews_20080825_13. Retrieved 26 March 2011. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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  • ^1 Designated as a "restricted international airport" ("customs airport"); a limited number of international flights are permitted at these airports.
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