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52-664: HAL Airport ( ICAO : VOBG ) is an airport that serves Bengaluru , the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka . Located about 12 km east of the city centre, it has one runway and operates 24/7. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a state-owned defence company , owns the airfield and runs a testing facility in conjunction with the Indian Armed Forces . The airport also caters to non-scheduled civilian traffic, including general , business and VIP aviation. For over 60 years, it received all domestic and international flights to

104-525: A memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka government; the agreement specified that airline flights would switch to the new facility upon its inauguration. However, HAL later dropped its demand. The enterprise and the AAI divided the earnings from the civil enclave among themselves, and HAL feared the impact the closure would have on its revenue. While the union government supported HAL, the consortium insisted that

156-512: A diversion alternative to Kempegowda International Airport in case of emergencies; the AAI no longer maintains the terminal buildings to handle passengers, and no airline flight may touch down at the airfield per the concession agreement. As of 2017, the civil aviation ministry seeks to permit airlines to divert to the HAL airport, as it does not believe the contract with BIAL applies to such contingencies. In regards to facilities available for civilian use,

208-431: A petition by a local organisation to delay the new airport's opening, ensuring that the transfer of passenger and revenue cargo flights between the airfields would take place at midnight. Nevertheless, one plane did not take-off from the HAL airport until 1:30 am on 24 May, as rainy weather forced the incoming flight to land late. In light of the protests, the court offered the central government and BIAL 12 weeks to determine

260-431: A site 30 km from the downtown area of the city in the suburb of Devanahalli . Similar to the memorandum that the original consortium had signed in the 1990s, the contract barred commercial flights from operating at the HAL airport for 25 years after the new airfield opened. The large amount of traffic placed great strain on the HAL airport, creating congested terminals and overflowing parking lots. Additionally, since

312-474: Is a pseudo-code, used in flight plans for aerodromes with no ICAO code assigned. ICAO codes are sometimes updated. Johannesburg Airport in Johannesburg , South Africa, for instance, was formerly known as Jan Smuts International Airport, with code FAJS. When the airport was renamed O. R. Tambo International Airport, its ICAO code was updated to FAOR. Some airports have two ICAO codes, usually when an airport

364-516: Is oriented to 90/270 degrees and measures 3,306 by 61 metres. It is equipped with a category I instrument landing system and can cater to aircraft as large as the Boeing 747 . The airfield, which remains operational 24/7, also contains 30 parking spots and two helipads. The airport accommodates a wide array of non-scheduled civilian operations, including VIP aircraft movements, charter flights, and air ambulances . However, it does not generally function as

416-726: Is shared by civilian and military users. Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt , Germany, for instance, has been assigned ICAO code EDDF while Rhein-Main Air Base was assigned ICAO code EDAF until its closure. Sion Airport in Switzerland has code LSGS while its military facilities have the ICAO code LSMS. Brussels Airport in Brussels , Belgium, has the ICAO code EBBR for its civilian facilities, and Melsbroek Air Base has been assigned ICAO code EBMB, even though

468-729: The Delhi-Raebareli-Lucknow route. A total of ten Dornier 228s were ordered by Vayudoot. Subsequently, the services of Vayudoot were extended to other regions, charting 100 stations in the country earning the sobriquet "worlds fastest growing airline". Vayudoot quickly established hubs at Bombay (now Mumbai), Delhi, Madras (now Chennai), and Hyderabad . Sub-bases were, at some points of time, established at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Guwahati in Assam . The lack of adequate traffic to sustain operations on all these routes adversely affected

520-599: The Jezero Crater on Mars is assigned the special ICAO code JZRO. Codes beginning with I (Ixx and Ixxx) are often used for navigational aids such as radio beacons, while the Q code is reserved for international radiocommunications and non-geographical special use. In Russia , Latin letter X, or its Morse / Baudot Cyrillic equivalent Ь , are used to designate government, military, and experimental aviation airfields in internal airfield codes similar in structure and purpose to ICAO codes but not used internationally. ZZZZ

572-489: The Second World War , and by 1946 commercial flights had begun. Activity at the airport grew gradually over the next several decades until the 1990s, when it started to increase rapidly in parallel to Bangalore's economic expansion. In response, the airport underwent a series of expansions and upgrades. Meanwhile, HAL declared it wanted the airport completely to itself, resulting in the planning of another airfield to replace

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624-555: The Bangalore airport land its first foreign carrier, Royal Nepal Airlines , which initiated a route to Kathmandu . One year later, Lufthansa launched flights to Frankfurt using Airbus A340s, signalling the first time the South Indian metropolis had a direct link to Europe. Bangalore's IT and other industries continued to flourish, driving passenger counts further up as the decade progressed. Air Deccan established its first base at

676-510: The HAL airport served approximately 550,000 passengers. Before the end of the decade, Bangalore had acquired one more airline, Vayudoot , which operated flights within Karnataka as well as to neighbouring Tamil Nadu . Meanwhile, Indian Airlines' network from the city had expanded to 13 destinations, from Delhi in the north to Trivandrum in the south. During the 1990s, Bangalore's rising global stature and bustling economy led passenger numbers at

728-527: The HAL airport to rise at a quick rate. While 1,000 travellers were passing through the terminal daily in 1991, more than six times that number were doing so by 1997. Additionally, Air India delivered Bangalore its first international destination, Singapore , in January 1995. To keep pace with the growing civilian air traffic, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) constructed an instrument landing system for

780-480: The HAL airport upon starting operations in 2003. Two years later, Bangalore ranked third on the list of the busiest airports in India with respect to domestic operations, and more international travellers were arriving as well. Carriers like British Airways and Air France , which began service to the city in the same week, contributed to this growth. In 2006, HAL complained that the booming civilian operations were hindering

832-535: The ICAO code indicate the country; the remaining letters identify the airport. ICAO codes are used partly for geographical context. For example, the ICAO code for Heathrow International Airport in London, is EGLL, with its first letters reflecting that it is based in the United Kingdom . On the other hand, IATA codes do not provide geographic reference. For example, LHR, representing Heathrow, does not enable one to deduce

884-542: The Inland Night Air Mail Service (NAMS), a domestic overnight airmail service for the Indian Postal Service . The facility of this Vayudoot airmail service was also extended to a private courier. Every night, flights from the major metropolitan cities of India converged upon Nagpur Airport in the centre of the country. Usually the routes were: Despite a successful run of over a year, the service

936-525: The United Kingdom, but nearby civilian Port Stanley Airport is assigned SFAL, consistent with South America . Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe. Kosovo is assigned the code BKxx grouping it with Greenland and Iceland rather than its geographical neighbors which have Lxxx (described below). Jerusalem International Airport

988-623: The agents and trained their staff. Vayudoot started with retired flight crew of Indian Airlines to fly the HS-748 and F27 aircraft. As Dornier 228 were bought or leased, new pilots were recruited. The same held for the core engineering team, which comprised almost all of ex-Indian Airlines engineers. Vayudoot became a public company in February 1983, owned jointly by Indian Airlines and Air India. At this time, its load factors were less than 50 per cent. Vayudoot's first Dornier 228 began service in 1985 on

1040-429: The airfields saw the resumption of commercial flights and fixed-wing aircraft after many decades of their absence. The airline consistently lost money since its formation due to low occupancy. The government, struggling to find a solution to Vayudoot's continuing financial problems, considered both closure and privatisation as options, since the carrier's route and fleet structure made the operation unprofitable. In

1092-444: The airport offers a VIP lounge, air-freight warehouse, and maintenance hangar. The closed civil enclave possessed two terminals, one for domestic flights and the other for international services. With respect to defence activities, HAL and the Indian military perform test flights from the airfield. ICAO airport code The recommendations for ICAO airport codes were adopted on 24 March 1959, and came into force on 1 October

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1144-468: The airport, linking it to a handful of destinations in South India. The national government then combined all domestic carriers into a single company called Indian Airlines , which was providing nonstop service from Bangalore to six cities by 1970. Additionally, jet aircraft had reached the airport by this time, with Caravelles performing routes to Hyderabad and Bombay . During the 1980–1981 fiscal year,

1196-526: The authorities were going to eliminate a potential competitor to BIAL. Even the managing director of HAL's Bangalore branch supported retaining some domestic flights, as he believed the immense demand for air travel made it sensible for the city to have two airports. At the same time, the defence company noted that keeping the passenger terminals open was not one of its primary concerns. Additionally, 20,000 AAI workers across India walked off their jobs in March 2008 over

1248-399: The busiest hours. The airports authority also collaborated with HAL to construct extra parking bays, and by late 2006 it had finished enlarging the two terminals, thereby raising the yearly capacity by 800,000 people. The airport remained significantly busy in the meantime. 10 domestic airlines and 11 foreign carriers were serving it in 2007, and greater than 10 million passengers passed through

1300-528: The city; the Airports Authority of India shut down its civil enclave , officially known as "Bangalore International Airport", upon the opening of the Kempegowda International Airport in Devanahalli in 2008. The airport commenced operations in January 1941 as the home of India's first aircraft factory, established by the company Hindustan Aircraft. The Allies employed the airfield during

1352-420: The civil enclave would need to cease operations in order to ensure the new airport's profitability. State officials added that the lake, apartment complexes, and other buildings surrounding the HAL airport made it impossible to significantly expand the site to accommodate future growth in air traffic. Although the businesses ultimately decided to abandon the endeavour, it gradually moved forward. The year 2000 saw

1404-474: The civil enclave. Although HAL later modified its stance and some residents of the city protested, an agreement between the new airport's operator and the state and national governments obligated the enclave to close. Consequently, airlines moved to the Devanahalli airport on the night of 23–24 May 2008. During World War II , Indian magnate Walchand Hirachand sought to build and repair planes in India, which at

1456-455: The company's activities, which ranged from flying sorties to evaluating aircraft prototypes. In fact, over the past fiscal year the airport had operated at about 1.6 times its capacity of 3.5 million passengers per year. Meanwhile, a private company called Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) signed a concession agreement with the state and national governments to erect a new, much larger airport . In 2005, BIAL started construction at

1508-515: The company's financial performance. After a review, the number of stations on the operational network was brought down to 48 on 31 March 1991. Vayudoot was then focused on consolidating its operations and rationalising its fare structure rather than embark on large-scale expansion of its network. Its operations were again primarily restricted to the Northeastern region and other inaccessible areas. Vayudoot also operated an Agro Aviation Division which

1560-641: The cornerstone of the facility, which began operations just one month later. The colonial government joined the venture in 1941. As fears of Japanese ambitions rose following the attack on Pearl Harbor , the British Raj took over HAL in April 1942, thereby requisitioning the airfield as well. It then allowed the US Tenth Air Force to repair its aircraft in Bangalore, and the following year the Americans began running

1612-549: The factory. With the US Air Force in charge, the facility focused on fixing and overhauling aircraft and engines, as well as producing drop tanks. Workers tended to a wide range of planes, including Catalinas and C-47 Dakotas . Upon the war's conclusion, the Indian government reassumed control of the airport. On the civilian front, commercial flights had started by 1946, when Deccan Airways introduced service to Hyderabad . Six years later, three other airlines were also flying to

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1664-428: The future of the civil enclave. BIAL still sought to adhere to the 2004 agreement, and New Delhi concurred after assessing the Devanahalli airport's capabilities. Since the last commercial flights took off, the level of activity at the HAL airport has decreased greatly. In 2015, between 60 and 70 aircraft movements occurred per day, a significant drop from 310 in 2007. Meanwhile, HAL has spoken various times with BIAL and

1716-443: The government in an effort to reopen the civil enclave and increase the airport's revenue. Although the defence ministry sided with HAL, BIAL remained opposed to amending the concession agreement for several years. In 2020, however, the company stated that once Kempegowda Airport was operating at maximum capacity, it would contemplate allowing passenger operations to resume at the HAL airport. HAL Airport has one asphalt runway , which

1768-571: The late 1970s, the Indian government and its two airlines became aware of the increasing number of potential air travelers in many small towns around the nation. Vayudoot has started to expand India's domestic air transport network on a very large scale, with a completely new network designed to feed Indian Airlines' network at state capitals and other big cities. Therefore, all Vayudoot destinations, apart from its hubs, were completely new, not covered by existing Indian Airlines services. Vayudoot began operations on 26 January 1981, India's Republic Day, in

1820-584: The location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty; it is William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania in the United States . There are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code that have been historically for political or administrative reasons. RAF Mount Pleasant air base in the Falkland Islands , for instance, is assigned the ICAO code EGYP as though it were in

1872-441: The name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes (in the broad sense) have ICAO codes than IATA codes, which are sometimes assigned to railway stations as well. The selection of ICAO codes is partly delegated to authorities in each country, while IATA codes, which have no geographic structure, must be decided centrally by IATA. The first one or two letters of

1924-432: The operation. During the early 1990s, Vayudoot used leased aircraft from Royal Nepal Airlines and Ariana Afghan Airlines to run night metro flights between New Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore. Aircraft such as the Boeing 757 and Boeing 727 were used. Vayudoot flew to over 100 destinations during its existence. The airline had four safety incidents during its operational history, including two crashes which resulted in

1976-464: The remote north-east of the country, linking towns in states such as Assam, Manipur and Tripura. A journey such as one from Lilabari, North Lakhimpur , in Assam state to Ziro in the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh could take a few days during bad weather, braving hazards such as avalanches in the hills and flooding in lower lying areas. The flight, on the other hand was as short as 12 minutes, though weather could cause disruptions because this

2028-409: The runway and another terminal. The arrivals section of the two-storey building could serve 700 domestic and 300 international passengers at a time, while the departures area had a capacity for 300 international travellers. At the inauguration ceremony in January 1999, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee observed that the city's accelerated pace of growth meant that the expansion would only help in

2080-506: The same year. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes , the latter of which have three letters and are generally used for airline timetables , reservations, and baggage tags. For example, the IATA code for London 's Heathrow Airport is LHR and its ICAO code is EGLL. IATA codes are commonly seen by passengers and the general public on flight-tracking services such as FlightAware . In general IATA codes are usually derived from

2132-428: The short-term, so government leaders needed to work toward building a new airport. Plans for another airport had originated earlier in the decade, when HAL conveyed that it no longer wished to share its airfield with commercial airlines. The company owned the land of the airport and managed all facilities besides the AAI's civil enclave . A group of private companies evinced interest in the new-airport project and signed

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2184-404: The shutting of the civil enclaves in Bangalore and Hyderabad ; they did not end their strike until the union government affirmed that the airports would remain operational for other purposes. The Karnataka government suggested to BIAL that the HAL airport could continue receiving short-haul flights, but the company would not change its stance. On 23 May 2008, the high court of the state rejected

2236-623: The style LFddnn , where dd indicates the department while nn is a sequential counter. The French Federation of Ultralight Motorized Gliders was formally named the keeper of these codes. Aerodrome de Torreilles in France, for instance, has code LF6651. In Antarctica many aerodromes have pseudo ICAO-codes with AT and two digits, while others have proper codes from countries performing air control such as NZ for New Zealand . Vayudoot Vayudoot ( Hindi : वायुदूत , romanized :  Vāyudūt , lit.   'messenger who rides on

2288-417: The tarmac had only eight parking stands for passenger aircraft, the high number of flights was producing delays. As the new airport would not be ready for another few years, the AAI attempted to improve the present situation in different ways. Worried about the dangers of a crowded airspace, officials requested domestic airlines to consider discontinuing the addition of flights and operating fewer services during

2340-415: The terminals in the 2007–2008 fiscal year. In April 2008, Air Mauritius added a route to Bangalore using Airbus A330 aircraft. The flight from Bangalore to Port Louis operated via Chennai, while the inbound one was direct. As work on the new airport neared its end, a controversy grew in the city regarding the civil enclave's impending closure. Local business leaders and others claimed, for example, that

2392-790: The time did not have any aircraft industry of its own. He found a partner in American businessman William Pawley , and the two received authorization from the British War Cabinet to set up a factory. Meanwhile, the princely state of Mysore offered 200 acres in Bangalore for the construction of an airfield. Hirachand, his colleagues, and the Mysore government jointly formed a company called Hindustan Aircraft Limited (the original name of present-day Hindustan Aeronautics Limited , or HAL) and in December 1940 laid

2444-515: The two airports share runways and ground and air control facilities. In small countries like Belgium or the Netherlands, almost all aerodromes have an ICAO code. For larger countries like the UK or Germany this is not feasible, given the limited number of letter codes. Some countries have addressed this issue by introducing a scheme of sub-ICAO aerodrome codes; France, for example, assigns pseudo ICAO codes in

2496-476: The wind') was a regional airline in India established on 20 January 1981 as a joint venture between the two state-owned carriers, Indian Airlines and Air India . The airline was headquartered at New Delhi 's Safdarjung Airport and was originally conceived to serve Northeast India . The regional hub for the region was Calcutta and the airline flew to close to 30 destinations in this challenging area. Many of

2548-691: Was assigned both LLJR (its Israeli persona) as well as OJJR (its Jordanian persona), but the airport itself fell into disuse. In the contiguous United States and Canada, many airports have ICAO codes that are simply copies of their three-letter IATA codes, with the geographical prefix added on (e.g., YEG and CYEG both refer to Edmonton International Airport , while IAD and KIAD both refer to Washington Dulles International Airport ). This similarity does not extend to Alaska (PAxx), Hawaii (PHxx), or U.S. territories. Kahului Airport on Maui , for instance, has an IATA code of OGG and an ICAO code of PHOG. ICAO airport codes do not begin with I or J or X or Q, though

2600-510: Was discontinued because of demanding nature of the operation. The unpressurized Dornier 228 was limited to an altitude of 10,000 ft. The aircraft was dependent on ground-based en route navigational facilities and these were few and far between on many of the legs. Flying exclusively at night and negotiating violent storms called Kal baisakhi , followed by the Monsoon and in the absence of Radio navigation aids it became advisable to discontinue

2652-642: Was flying where visual contact had to be maintained with the ground/terrain in the absence of reliable aids for navigation. The weather caused poor visibility on account of heavy rains and low clouds and/or fog and could at times result in waterlogged runways. Many runways were unpaved strips, and facilities at these airports were very limited. Its first aircraft were two F27s leased from Indian Airlines and linked 20 destinations. To keep costs low, Vayudoot did not serve in-flight meals and contracted out its ground handling services to local agents at all smaller destinations. Vayudoot supplied basic ground-handling equipment to

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2704-500: Was involved in aerial spraying operations, seeding and afforestation operations. Vayudoot's financial performance continued to deteriorate which finally led to the dissolution of the company and merger of its assets into Indian Airlines in 1993. On 1 April 1997 its flight operations were transferred to Alliance Air , which is a newly formed subsidiary of Indian Airlines since 1996 and its employees were absorbed into Indian Airlines and Air India . In 1985, Vayudoot started operating

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