Bagdogra International Airport or Civil Aerodrome Bagdogra (Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

: বাগডোগরা বিমান বন্দর; Hindi/Nepali

Nepali language

Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...

: बाघदोग्रा विमानस्थल) is a military airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 that is open for civilian flights. The airport is located in the town of Bagdogra

Bagdogra

Bagdogra is a small town in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India, which is surrounded by tea gardens. Bagdogra is well connected by rail and air to the rest of the country. Bagdogra Airport is the only airport in North Bengal, which is now an International Airport. -References:...

, about 16 km (9.9 mi) from the city of Siliguri

Siliguri

Siliguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck - a very narrow strip of land linking mainland India to its north-eastern states. It is also the transit point for air, road and rail traffic to the neighbouring countries of Nepal,...

 in the Darjeeling district

Darjeeling district

Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its beautiful hill stations and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters...

 in northern West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The airport is a major stop in the region with flights connecting Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

, Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 and Guwahati

Guwahati

Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...

. The airport sees thousands of tourists annually, most destined to the hill station

Hill station

A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia , but also in Africa , for towns founded by European colonial rulers as refuges from the summer heat, up where temperatures are cooler...

 towns of Darjeeling, Kurseong

Kurseong

Kurseong is a hill station situated in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India.Located at an altitude of 1458 metres , Kurseong is just 30 km from Darjeeling...

, Mirik

Mirik

Mirik is a picturesque tourist spot nestled in the serene hills of Darjeeling district in West Bengal, India. The name Mirik comes from the Lepcha words Mir-Yok meaning "place burnt by fire"....

, and Kalimpong and the state

States and territories of India

India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...

 of Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

.

The airport also has an aerodrome

Aerodrome

An aerodrome, airdrome or airfield is a term for any location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve cargo, passengers or neither...

, with regular helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 flights to Gangtok

Gangtok

Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...

, the capital of Sikkim. Foreign tourist permits are made in this airport for those intending to journey to Sikkim. The airport infrastructure is being upgraded.

Two new aprons have been inaugurated at Bagdogra Airport. The aerodrome operates eight to nine flights a day and had only three aprons earlier. Currently, at least five aircraft can be parked at one time. The old aprons are being revamped to bring it to the level of the new ones so that there is parking space for six planes. Reports available with AAI indicated that traffic has substantially increased in Bagdogra. In November 2007, 31,854 passengers had availed of 430 flights. In 2008, the number of passengers for the same month is 51,914 who travelled on 558 flights.

Bagdogra airport in North Bengal will soon have night landing facility . Buoyed by the defence ministry nod, the state government decided to hand over 14.5 acres (58,679.5 m²) of land to the civil aviation ministry for developing infrastructure for night landing. Bagdogra will be equipped with category III night vision facility that will enable pilots to have clear visibility of 50 m at night. The state government would provide 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) of land to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) free of cost. Out of the total area, the state government would keep under its possession 9 acres (36,421.7 m²), while the rest would be acquired by AAI.

The Indian Air Force

Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...

's No. 20 Wing is based here. The No. 8 Squadron flying Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to...

 (Mig-21) FL fighter aircraft

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

 and a Helicopter Unit are based here. Along with the airbase at Hasimara

Hasimara

Hasimara is a small but significant town in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal state, India. It is located at 26° 45' 0N latitude and 89° 20' 60E longitude at an altitude of 245 metres above sea level and has a population of about 40,000 ....

, it is responsible for combat air operations over a large area including North Bengal, Sikkim, and if needed, Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

. An Indian Army

Indian Army

The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

 Sub-Area and Base Hospital are located a few kilometres away in Bengdubi. The base is also important as it caters to all military air traffic for the Indian Army's XXXIII Corps based nearby in Sukna.

An Indian Army Aviation Helicopter Squadron is based 15 km (9.3 mi) away in Sevoke

Sevoke

Sevoke is a town near Siliguri in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India. It is a part of Dooars. Many army and BSF camps are located in the area. The Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in this area. National Highway 31 passes through the town...

, flying Aérospatiale Alouette III

Aérospatiale Alouette III

The Aérospatiale Alouette III is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by Sud Aviation. It was manufactured by Aérospatiale of France, and under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in India as Hal Chetak and Industria Aeronautică Română in Romania.The Alouette III is the...

 (HAL Chetak) helicopters.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
Cargo

External links

• Civil Aerodrome Bagdogra (official Airports Authority of India
  Airports Authority of India
  The Airports Authority of India is an organization working under the Ministry of Civil Aviation that manages most of the airports in India. The AAI manages and operates 126 airports including 16 international airports, 89 domestic airports and 26 civil enclaves. The corporate headquarters are at...
  
  web site)
• Baghdogra Airport at theAirDB