Mangalore International Airport

Overview

The airport is near Bajpe, around 13 km northeast of Mangaluru city centre. It is on top of a hill, with two tabletop runways (09/27 and 06/24). Only two other airports in India have tabletop runways – Kozhikode and Lengpui. The very small and basic terminal was renovated in the early 2000s, adding parking controls, additional seating and additional cafés. The airport was initially used for limited domestic flights, mainly to Mumbai and Bengaluru.

The operation of international flights started in 2006 with Air India Express flying to Dubai. Mangalore Airport was a customs airport for six years, from 3 October 2006 to 3 October 2012, before it was granted the status of international airport.

Until 2005, the small 1600 m runway meant the airport could only handle Boeing 737-400 size aircraft. The longer runway now handles slightly larger aircraft. On 10 January 2006, an Airbus A319 of Kingfisher Airlines landed on the new runway. On 28 September 2012, an Airbus A310 landed for the first time at Mangaluru. It was a charter flight for the Hajj pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

From 2011 to 2012, the airport had a revenue of and an operating profit of , up from in 2006–07. In 2012–13 the airport handled a landmark 1.02 million passengers with 11,940 aircraft movements. The revenue for the same period was Rs 506.6 million, and it recorded an operating profit of Rs 164.9 million during 2012–13. In 2013–14 it handled a 1.25 million passengers with revenues of Rs 638.9 million.

In July 2019, the central government approved leasing of the airport through public-private partnership (PPP) to the Adani Enterprises, for operations, management and development for the next 50 years. This airport is accredited by the Airports Council International (ACI) under the Airport Health Accreditation (AHA) programme.

Facilities

Runway

The first runway (09/27), 1615 m long, was opened in 1951. It is a tabletop runway, with landing approaches presented with the extreme edges of a hillside. The edges of the hill drop into a valley from a height of about 90 m to 9 m) within a short distance of just 500 m on the east of the runway and from about 83 m to 25 m on the western side. The runway was not level, with the height varying from 90 m to 83 m from east to west. Landing on this short runway was considered difficult.

Mangalore Airport was the first airport in Karnataka to have two runways{{cite news | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071001062002/http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/04/stories/2007010416020300.htm | url-status =dead | archive-date =1 October 2007 | access-date =8 February 2007

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel announced on 15 May 2010 that a work order for extending the runway to 9000 ft would be issued soon.{{cite news | access-date =25 May 2010 | archive-date =26 January 2025 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20250126070716/https://www.ptinews.com/news/654275_Rs-100-crore-more-for-upgrading-Mangalore-airport | url-status =dead | access-date =25 May 2010

Safety improvements were implemented after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India) (DGCA) identified this as one of the 11 airports in India as unsafe. Addition of a runway end safety area, ensuring proper markings on the runway, and proper maintenance of the basic strip were among the improvements.

Passenger terminal

The road to the new terminal reduces the distance between the city and the airport by about 8 km.{{cite news |access-date=10 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707213046/http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=73&contentid=200906292009062920384773455a8987c&sectxslt= |archive-date=7 July 2011 |access-date =9 February 2010 |access-date =17 May 2010

, 26 domestic flights and 52 international flights were operated every week.

Air traffic control

The construction of a new air traffic control (ATC) tower was completed in June 2014, and commissioned for one-month trial on 19 January 2015.

On 5 September 2013 the Airports Authority of India commissioned a DGCA approved advanced automated air traffic management system, replacing the older system. The system enhances flight safety by providing flight plans, direction finders, and air-ground-data link messages. This system processes radar feeds from Bangalore, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram and displays them at Mangaluru.

Old terminal

Since 2011 the old terminal has been used for direct flights to Medina, Saudi Arabia, for pilgrims undertaking the Hajj. In 2011 and 2012 chartered flights landed at Mangalore International Airport and carried passengers from the old terminal building.

Indian Coast Guard Air Station

The Mangalore Airport Director announced on 28 January 2016 that the Airports Authority of India have handed over 17,000 sqft of space at the old terminal building to the Indian Coast Guard to set up an air station for its air operations. The ICG proposed the stationing of two of its Dornier 228 aircraft at the air station.

Expansion

• The 812 crash inquiry recommendation for runway lengthening not having been implemented due to funding obstacles, its length remains 2450 m.
• Passenger volume projections for the year 2025 made by the AAI while constructing the new passenger terminal were already exceeded in 2012.
• Commencement of wide-body aircraft flights from the airport, under a public-private partnership model, depending on allotment of 1 km2 of land from the government.

Airlines and destinations

|Air India Express|Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Bengaluru, Dammam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai–International, Hyderabad, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Muscat, (Resumes 1 March 2026), Mumbai–Shivaji, Thiruvananthapuram |IndiGo|Abu Dhabi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dubai–International, Hyderabad, Mumbai–Navi, Mumbai–Shivaji

Statistics

Presently, it ranks 12 in the list of airports with international passenger traffic after Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Kozhikode, Tiruchirappalli international airports. The airport had 8.91 lakh passengers in the FY 2011-12 and witnessed a growth rate of 5.44%. According to the airport sources, it has a target of achieving 16 lac passengers traffic in the FY 2016–17.

Air cargo complex

Air cargo complex of the airport was commissioned in the year 2013.

Major commodities are fresh vegetables, chilled fish, ornamental fish, cashews, flowers and machinery parts.

Ground transport

KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) operates Airport low-floor Volvo bus services from Mangalore Central Railway Station and Manipal to Mangalore International Airport. Taxis ply between the airport and the city of Mangaluru. Prepaid taxi service is available around the clock at the airport counter in the arrival hall.

Accidents and incidents

• On 19 August 1981, Indian Airlines Flight 557, a HAL 748 VT-DXF overshot the 5783 ft old runway 27 at Mangalore-Bajpe Airport in wet weather. The aircraft came to a halt just beyond the runway edge. While there were no fatalities, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was written off. One of the passengers was Veerappa Moily, then Finance Minister of Karnataka.{{cite news |access-date =24 June 2010
• On 22 May 2010, Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737-800 VT-AXV, flying on the Dubai-Mangalore route, overshot the 8033 ft runway number 06/24, killing 158 people, including 6 crew members; only 8 survived. The aircraft overshot the runway and plunged into a steep gorge at the end of the runway. The starboard wing impacted the concrete socket of the instrument landing system (ILS) localiser antenna, rendering it unusable.{{cite news

References

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