Coimbatore Airport

Coimbatore Airport கோயம்புத்தூர் வானூர்தி நிலையம்
IATA: CJB – ICAO: VOCB CJB Location of airport in India
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Government of India
Operator		Airports Authority of India
Serves		Coimbatore, India
Location		Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Elevation AMSL		1,324 ft / 404 m
Coordinates		11°01′48″N 077°02′36″E / 11.03°N 77.04333°E / 11.03; 77.04333
Website		www.airportsindia.org.in
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
05/23	9,760	2,990	Asphalt
Statistics (2010 April To December)
International Passenger movements			76,744
International Aircraft movements			648
Domestic Passenger movements			841,748
Domestic Aircraft movements			10,145

Coimbatore Airport (IATA: CJB, ICAO: VOCB) is a customs airport located at Peelamedu, Coimbatore. It was previously known as Coimbatore Civil Aerodrome. It is about 17 km (11 mi) from the city center. It is located along Peelamedu and Neelambur, with passenger entry at Neelambur and cargo entry at Peelamedu. It is the eleventh largest airport in India in terms of total passenger movement and the third largest in Tamil Nadu, after Chennai International Airport and Tiruchirapalli International Airport.

History

The airport had its commencement in the 1940’s in the form of a civil aerodrome with just the Indian operating Fokker F27, Douglas DC-3 and Hawker Siddeley's Avro 748. For a considerable phase, the air services were restricted to the cities of Chennai and Mumbai. However, in the later years services to Cochin and Bangalore were also added. The airport in the 80s had a thorough transformation when it was closed down for runway expansion so as to enable modern days jets like Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 to operate. The year 1987 is a landmark in the history of this airport since on that year the project of runway expansion was completed and a new terminal started operation.

Nowadays, the airport is served by 10 airlines and 5 more are likely to initiate their operations in the coming years. In the meanwhile, two reputed international airlines Silkair started operations to Coimbatore, linking Coimbatore with Singapore and Air Arabia.

Infrastructure

The new passenger terminal complex at Neelambur is used for passenger operations. The passenger terminal complex consists of a domestic terminal and an International terminal, although the complex is one continuous structure. The first part to be built was the old terminal at Peelamedu followed by the new domestic terminal with three aero bridges at Neelambur. The old terminal at Peelamedu is used for handling cargo.

The airport has one runway that is 9,760 feet (2,970 m) in length extended from 8,500 ft (2,600 m). The airport can now accommodate larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A330 because of this runway expansion. The runway is further slated to be extended to 12,500 feet (3,800 m) to handle wide bodied aircraft in a efficient manner. An Instrument Landing System (ILS) has also been installed.^[1] Although the cargo complex is one continuous structure, it was built incrementally, with the Domestic and International terminals being added in 2007 to the already existing terminal.

The airport has a parking management system will be in place with separate entrance for VIP/Government and other exempted class of vehicles, with a dedicated area for parking for 12 vehicles. The airport parking area has the capacity to park 282 cars. ^[2]

Proposed Expansion

The further proposed expansion of the airport includes the construction of a parallel taxiway to the runway. This will minimize the runway occupancy time and turnaround of aircraft, as aircraft currently taxi on the runway. Two more parking bays will be added, raising the total number to eight. There are two hangers in the airport. While one of them provides housing for the planes of Coimbatore Flying Club, the others provides shelter for private carriers. The airport has only one terminal and the other is under construction. The airport is on the verge of expansion and projects are being chalked out in this direction. In addition, plans for modernizing the present terminal with all modern facilities are sought after.

Transport links

The airport is located on the National Highway 47(Avinashi Road). Frequent bus services are available from the central bus stand in Gandhipuram and also from other auxiliary bus stations of Singanallur and Ukkadam. Cab services and auto rickshaws also provide commuting services from and to the airport.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Taxi Stands

Airlines	Destinations
Air Arabia	Sharjah
Air India	Chennai, Delhi, Kozhikode, Mumbai
IndiGo	Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune
Jet Airways	Bangalore, Chennai
JetLite	Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai
Kingfisher Airlines	Bangalore, Chennai, Goa, Mumbai
Silkair	Singapore
SpiceJet	Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Air India Cargo	Chennai
Blue Dart Aviation	Delhi
Kingfisher Xpress	Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai

Gallery

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  Aero Bridges

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  Arrival Baggage

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  Arrivals

Incidents

On 17 November 2007, an accident at the parking bay of the airport was averted when the wing of a SpiceJet Boeing 737, bound for New Delhi with 130 passengers, almost struck the wing of a stationary Air Deccan A320 aircraft. The aircraft was stopped on time and the accident averted.^[3]

See also

• Coimbatore
• Sulur Air Force Base

References

1. ^ An article from the Hindu describing the runway extension
2. ^ The Hindu : NATIONAL / TAMIL NADU : New parking system at Coimbatore Airport
3. ^ The Hindu Business Line : Collision averted at Coimbatore airport

External links

• Coimbatore Peelamedu Airport world-airport-codes
• A 1950 Timetable of Air India International for Coimbatore^{[dead link]}
• CJB Weather Info
• Business Line article
• Airport Expansion Programme
• Residents express willingness to give land for airport expansion