Airport type Public 07/25 4,500 Phone 0413 225 5506 | Owner AAI Elevation AMSL 134 ft / 41 m Elevation 41 m Serves Pondicherry | |
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Address Lawspet, Puducherry, 605008 | ||
Landing at pondicherry airport
Pondicherry Airport (IATA: PNY, ICAO: VOPC) is an airport located at Lawspet in Pondicherry, a Union territory of India. The airport has charter flights and operations of the local flying training school. In 2007, the Pondicherry Government decided to expand the airport to accommodate larger aircraft and commissioned a new terminal building. The new terminal was inaugurated on 18 January 2013 with the arrival of a SpiceJet flight from Bangalore.
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Pondicherry airport
History
The airport was constructed in 1989. Between that year and 1991, regional airline Vayudoot flew to Chennai, Neyveli and Bangalore, however the flights were not successful and all were ended. The airport remained in disuse for the following two decades.
In June 2007, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the local government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for expansion of the airport. For the first phase, 19.92 hectares of land were acquired at ₹ 18.95 crore. Then the new terminal was constructed and the runway extended by 260 m (853 ft), allowing for the landing of ATR aircraft. This phase was completed in late 2012. The second phase of expansion involves acquiring 200 more acres of land to extend the runway by an additional 1,100 m (3,609 ft), allowing larger jet aircraft to land at the airport.
On 17 January 2013, SpiceJet began the first flights to the modernised airport from Bangalore. However, only one year later the service was cancelled because of poor passenger loads.
On 14 April 2015, Alliance Air brought the airport back into operation with flights again from Bangalore, subsidised by the Pondicherry Government. Flights were suspended six months later due to "payment issues", and it is unknown when service will resume.
Structure
Pondicherry Airport has one asphalt runway, oriented 07/25, 1500 m long and 30 m wide. It has a 100 by 150 m apron and its new terminal building can handle 300 passengers during peak hours. Navigational aids at Pondicherry include an Aerodrome beacon.