Veer Savarkar International Airport
Veer Savarkar International Airport is the primary airport serving the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. It is located about south of Port Blair, the capital of the islands. It is named after Indian politician Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 2002. It operates as a civil enclave, sharing airside facilities with INS Utkrosh of the Indian Navy. While the civilian terminals are operated by the Airports Authority of India, air traffic operations are overseen by the Indian Navy.
History
In 1937, the British Raj established a temporary air strip at Port Blair for handling fighter aircraft. During the Second World War, British Overseas Airways Corporation operated routes connecting the Indian subcontinent with the Malay peninsula via Burma and Siam. In mid-1941, alternate routes had to be planned due to the advancement of the Japanese forces, which involved flying from Calcutta to Port Blair then on wards to Dutch East Indies. On the December 1941, the alternate route was activated after the Japanese invaded Siam, and Port Blair airport served as a re-fueling stop for the allied aircraft. After the Japanese captured the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in June 1942, the runway was paved and the air strip was improved to make it capable of handling passenger flights. However, bombings during the war damaged the airport, and made it non-functional.After the Indian Independence, the Government of India permitted Airways India to operate non-scheduled passenger flights using a Catalina aircraft between Calcutta and Port Blair in 1955. Regular commercial services were started by the Indian Airlines in 1960. The control of the aircraft operations at the airport was handed over to the Indian Navy in 1984. It was renamed after Indian ideologue and politician Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 2002. Plans for starting international flights from the airport were proposed in the late 1980s. However, the airport did not see a regular international service until 2024, when Air Asia launched services to Kuala Lumpur, which was also discontinued less than a year later.