Veer Savarkar International Airport is an airport located 2 km south of Port Blair and the primary airport serving the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Earlier known as Port Blair Airport, it was renamed in 2002 after Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who had been detained in the Cellular Jail in the city for 11 years during India’s freedom struggle. It operates as a civil enclave, sharing airside facilities with INS Utkrosh of the Indian Navy.

Overview

The airport has a single runway of 3290 m in length, accommodating most narrow-body aircraft, that includes Airbus A320, Airbus A321, and Boeing 737. Except for the civilian terminals operated by the Airports Authority of India, all other air traffic operations over Port Blair are undertaken by the Indian Navy.

Terminals

Old Terminal

Old Terminal had a capacity of 400 passengers. It covers an area of 6,100 square metres. It had 2 Boarding Gates with no aerobridges. Buses are used to provide transportation from the terminal to the aircraft parked on the apron. At present Old Terminal is not operational. At present All operations were shifted from Old Terminal to New Terminal. The future usage of Old Terminal has not decided.

New Terminal

Due to increasing traffic, a new 40,837 sq.m. passenger terminal at a cost of ₹ 707 crore began construction in 2019. It has three floors–one for arrivals, second for departures and third for waiting. Inside the terminal, there are 28 check-in counters, four conveyor belts and three aerobridges. It will be able to handle 1,200 passengers (600 domestic and 600 international) at peak hours, and will be able to serve 5 million passengers per annum. It was completed in June 2023 and was inaugurated on 18 July 2023.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics