What is called airport?

An airport is a place where any air vehicle, such as an airplane, helicopter, etc., takes off and lands. Aircraft can also be stored here. An airport must have at least one runway, a helipad and terminal buildings. Apart from these there can be hangers also.

History of Air Transport in India:

The history of air service in India is very old. There are many airports in India which include domestic and international airports. Air transport in India was started in 1912 AD. Indian Airlines serves the interior parts of the country as well as neighboring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives.

Apart from this, the Airlines Corporation of India also provides its services for foreign services. According to the data released by the Airports Authority of India in November 2016, there are a total of 34 international airports in India, whose names and locations are listed below.

Interesting facts related to air transport in India:

  • India's first international air service was started between Karachi and Chennai.
  • The National Air Transport Company of India was established in the year 1933.
  • All the air transport companies of the country were nationalized in the year 1953 and were placed under two corporations – Bhartiya Viman Nigam (Indian Airlines) and Air India.
  • A third corporation named "Vayudoot" was established in 1981 for domestic services in India, but was later merged with Indian Airlines.
  • Air India and Indian Airlines merged in the year 2010.
  • Indira Gandhi National Flying Academy is located at Fursatganj (Uttar Pradesh).
  • The International Airport Authority of India was established in June 1972.
  • National Airport Authority was established in the year 1986.
  • The first air mail service was started between Allahabad and Naini.
  • Air India was established in India in 1953 AD.
  • The International Airport Authority of India was established in June 1972 AD.
  • The first international airport after independence was Trivandrum.

Note:- The under-construction Kushinagar airport in Uttar Pradesh has received necessary approval from the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 25 February 2021 to operate international flights.

Once operational, the Kushinagar airport will become the third functional international facility in the state. Currently, Uttar Pradesh has two international airports, the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow and the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi.

About Kushinagar Airport:

  • Kushinagar airport will serve as the nearest international airport to several Buddhist pilgrimage sites at Lumbini, Sravasti and Kapilvastu.
  • The new airport will boost tourism in the region and facilitate travel on the Buddhist circuit by providing direct aviation connectivity to the city.

List of International Airports in India:

Airport State
Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi, Delhi
Kannur International Airport Kannur, Kerala
Calicut International Airport Kozhikode, Kerala
Kempegowda International Airport Bangalore, Karnataka
Kochi International Airport Kochi, Kerala
Coimbatore International Airport Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Gaya Airport Gaya, Bihar
Goa International Airport Goa, Goa
Chennai International Airport Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Mumbai, Maharashtra
Jaipur International Airport Jaipur, Rajasthan
Zaruki International Airport Shillong, Meghalaya
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport Nagpur, Maharashtra
Tiruchirappalli International Airport< Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu
Trivandrum International Airport Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Kolkata, West Bengal
Pune airport Pune, Maharashtra
Biju Patnaik International Airport Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Mangalore Airport Mangalore, Karnataka
Madurai Airport Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Maharaja Nara Singh International Airport Imphal, Manipur
Raja Bhoj Airport Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad, Telangana
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Lok Nayak Jayaprakash International Airport Patna, Bihar
Lokpak Gopinath Bardoli International Airport Guwahati, Assam
Visakhapatnam Airport Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
Veer Savarkar International Airport Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport Mohali, Punjab
Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport Amritsar, Punjab
Srinagar International Airport Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Kushinagar International Airport Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh

Now practice related questions and see what you learnt?

Airports in India GK Questions and Answers 🔗

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International Airport FAQs:

1972 - The first multi-role helicopter SA-315 was flight tested in Bengaluru.

Ahmedabad airport has been renamed as "Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport". Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the great heroes of the Indian freedom struggle and handled the integration of India. Ahmedabad airport was renamed in 2016.

In the survey of airports, Swami Vivekananda Airport (Raipur) has been ranked first in the country in terms of customer satisfaction.

India has been ranked 16th in the Airports Council International's (ACI) busiest airports list 2017.

The Indian International Airport has been renamed "Bengaluru International Airport" as "Kempegowda International Airport". It was renamed in 2013 and is now the official airport service center for the city of Bangalore.

  Last update :  Fri 27 Jan 2023
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