Belgaum Airport , also known as Belagavi Airport, is a

domestic airport A domestic airport is an airport that handles only flights within the same country. Domestic airports do not have customs and immigration facilities and so cannot handle flights to or from a foreign airport. These airports often have short r ...

serving

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. The current integrated terminal building was inaugurated by the then Minister of Civil Aviation,

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju (born 26 June 1951) is an Indian politician and the former Union Minister for Civil Aviation in the Narendra Modi Government. A scion of royal family of Vizianagaram princely state, he is the younger son of the ...

on 14 September 2017. Near the airport, there is an

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

station, where new recruits receive basic training. Beside the existing terminal, a new, larger terminal is being constructed to meet the rapidly rising traffic and demands. Its

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was laid by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

in March 2024, and construction began in the same month. It is slated to be completed by the end of 2026.

History

Built in 1942 by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF), Belgaum Airport is the third oldest airport in

. The RAF used the airport as a training site during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, providing support to the

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir ...

. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took control of the airport in 1956, followed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 1962. During the 1990s, Belgaum Airport was served by East-West Airlines,

Gujarat Airways Gujarat Airways was a private airline headquartered in Vadodara, India that operated from 1995 to 2001. It operated a fleet Beech 1900 aircraft on feeder routes in West and South India. The company slogan was ''Wings of Comfort.'' Destinations ...

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international servic ...

NEPC Airlines NEPC Airlines was a private airline that operated from 1993 to 1997. It was headquartered in Chennai, then known as Madras, and was promoted by the Chennai-based NEPC group, founded by Ravi Prakash Khemka. History The NEPC (Natural Energy Proces ...

and

Vayudoot Vayudoot () was a regional airline in India established on 20 January 1981 as a joint venture between the two state-owned carriers, Indian Airlines and Air India. The airline was headquartered at New Delhi's Safdarjung Airport and was originall ...

. All airlines ended flights to the airport by the end of the decade. Belgaum Airport saw the return of commercial flights in 2003, with

Air Deccan Air Deccan was an Indian regional airline operating from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It flew to a total of four destinations using Beech 1900D aircraft, as of November 2019. As of October 2021, the airline had temporarily suspended operations as a re ...

providing service from

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Air Deccan also flew to

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

for some time. After Air Deccan completed its merger with

Kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. ...

in 2008, Kingfisher decided to end flights to Belgaum in June 2009. Nevertheless, expansion plans for Belgaum Airport were launched in 2010, when the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civi ...

(AAI) and the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

signed a memorandum of understanding. Kingfisher returned in January 2011 with daily flights from Mumbai, but it exited the market in November 2011 amid its own financial difficulties.

SpiceJet SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. , it is the fourth largest airline in India by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 4% and connects 73 destinations, including 60 Indi ...

arrived at Belgaum in November 2012 with flights from Bangalore and later added direct flights to Chennai, Mumbai, and Hyderabad after Belgaum airport was expanded in September 2017. Spicejet served the airport till May 2018. After Hubballi airport was nominated under the UDAN scheme, Spicejet shifted all its operations to Hubballi which it operated from Belgaum Airport. The airport came into operation again after Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India began flight services to Bangalore from 11 July 2018. This was a three times a week flight operated by ATR 72 type aircraft. Air India began service to Bangalore with its Airbus A319 aircraft from 10 August 2018 on the remaining 4 days of the week thus connecting Belgaum with Bangalore all 7 days in the week. Also this was the first arrival of the Airbus A319 in Belgaum. In 2013, the

Central Government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

cleared the expansion project. Work began in February 2015 at a cost of Rs 1.20 billion and took over two and a half years. It involved extension of the runway, construction of a new isolation bay, a taxiway, an apron for three A-320 aircraft and a new 22.5-metre tall ATC tower. The expanded facilities were formally inaugurated on 14 September 2017 and AAI commissioned the new terminal and apron on 16 October 2017. In 2020, Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi requested that the airport be named after Kittur Rani Chennamma.

Terminal and airfield

Airport Entrance and Ticketing Counter A new terminal building was inaugurated on 14 September 2017 as part of the airport expansion project. The terminal building is spread over 3,600 square metres and has a capacity to accommodate over 300 passengers. It has two baggage conveyor belts and six check-in counters. It has an

apron An apron is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body to protect from liquids. They have several purposes, most commonly as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other typ ...

for parking of three Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft. The old apron has two parking stands designed for the

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

and similar aircraft. There are also two additional aprons, one on the north side of the runway that serves as an isolation bay and one on the south side. These aprons are each connected by single taxiways to runway 08/26, which measures .

Expansion

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to expand the airport in view of the rising traffic and future demands. A new passenger terminal building will be built, which will have an area of 20,000 sq.m., thereby making it bigger than the existing terminal covering 16,000 sq.m. by 3,600 sq.m. It will be equipped with all modern facilities and will have three

aerobridges A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

. It will be able to handle 1,400 passengers (700 arrivals and 700 departures) during peak hours. Other works included as part of the expansion is a new apron and a taxiway connecting to the runway, along with runway expansion to cater larger aircraft like the

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

and

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

, which at present do not operate even though the existing new apron is capable of handling such aircraft types due to short length of the runway. The expansion work will be undertaken at a cost of around ₹ 230 crore, and is scheduled to begin from January 2024 with a deadline of completing in 2–3 years.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Air Force Station

Built by and originally under the control of the Royal Air Force, the Special Reserve Police of

took over the airbase in 1984. The air force station was a major base of air operations during Operation Vijay in 1961. Two years later, No. 1 Ground Training School at

Jalahalli Jalahalli is a suburb in northern part of Bengaluru is one of the greenest areas of Bengaluru. It is mainly divided into Jalahalli East and Jalahalli West. Gangamma Circle is the junction between the roads connecting Jalahalli East, Jalahalli ...

was moved to the base and renamed ''Administrative Training Institute'' (ATI) in 1980. In 2001, the ATI was renamed ''Airmen Training School'' (ATS). The focus of the base turned to providing Joint Basic Phase Training (JBPT) through the Basic Training Institute. JBPT is designed to teach recruits military values and orient them towards a life in the military.

References

External links

Belgaum Airport
at

website. {{Indian Air Force Airports in Karnataka Transport in Belgaum Buildings and structures in Belagavi district 1942 establishments in British India Airports established in 1942 20th-century architecture in India