Netaji Subhas Chandra Airport CCU

Location and history

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bhose Airport CCU is located in the West Bengal, India in Dum Dum. It is located 17 km away from the centre of the city of Kolkata. This airport is situated in such a way that it perfectly serves the larger Kolkata metro area. Initially, the Netaji Subhas Chandra CCU was recognised as the Dum Dum Airport. Later, the name changed to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bhose Airport as a gesture of honour. Netaji Subhas Chandra Airport CCU is one of the busiest airports of India. It is capable of catering to 8.5 million passengers per year.

Airport Structure

The Netaji Subhas Chandra Airport CCU is created having three terminals. The terminals are characterised by functionality. One caters to the domestic flights, the other caters to the international flights, and the last one takes care of the cargo. The domestic terminal was an extension to meet the exceeding number of passengers. The airport has also undergone modifications, and it now has new ticketing counters, check-in kiosks, and cafes. The airport is currently equipped with four aerobridges, which will rise up to 20 once the terminals are properly completed. This airport has two parallel runways.

Connectivity

Kolkata suburban railway system is affiliated with the airport. One can also easily reach the airport by bus, or by taxi. There are buses that constantly drive between the airport and the city, so reaching there is not an issue. With the introduction of air-conditioned buses, the convenience has increased further. Apart from this, there are various cabs like yellow cab, radio cabs, Kolkata cabs, and mega cabs available, which can easily take you to the airport.

As mentioned earlier, the airport will be undergoing modifications, which will include addition of a new terminal. The improvisations will also include extending the runways. The airport is capable of handling 360 flights a day. With the aid of the Airports Authority of India, the cargo handling capacity has been improved, which will need no further extensions until 2016. The basic aim for all the improvisation was to meet the excessive demands of elevating inflow and outflow of passengers and cargo.

November 2008 marks the time when the new terminal was opened. It is an L-shaped structure, which caters to both arrivals and departures. It has been designed to accommodate 1800 passengers per hour. The new terminal building will have 104 check-in counters, 44 immigration counters, 25 security gates, 5 conveyor belts, and 15 aerobridges post development. It will also get an inline baggage system, which will make it unnecessary for the passengers to go for pre-check through x-ray machines.

The vast number of airlines that use the airport also include the following; AirAsia (destination: Kuala Lumpur), Air India (destination: Delhi), Air India Express (destinations: Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Dhaka, Singapore), Emirates (destination: Dubai), IndiGo (destinations: Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Vadodara), and many more.