What are Airports?
An Airport is also called as Air Terminal, Aerodrome, or Airfield, site and installation for the takeoff and landing of aircraft. An airport usually has paved runways and maintenance facilities and serves as a terminal for passengers and cargo.
There are 487 airport in India, out of which AAI manages a total of 137 airports which include 29 International airports (3 Civil Enclaves), 10 Customs airports (4 Civil Enclaves) and 103 Domestic airports (23 Civil Enclaves).
Airports in India are managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the responsibility for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India depends upon Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Classification of Airports:-
1. International Airports
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. They often also host domestic flights, which often help feed both passengers and cargo into international ones. International airports can have different features depending on the country. It is mandatory to include customs, security checkpoints and international terminal within these airports. International airports have duty free shops, lounge sections, waiting areas, airline company’s offices, baby care rooms, prayer rooms or tourism offices. International airports are generally larger than the airports only with domestic terminals.
2. Commercial Airports
Commercial airports are publicly owned and generally financed through municipal bonds. Airports typically own all of their facilities and make money by leasing them to airlines, air-freight companies, and retail shops and services, as well as by charging for services like fuel and parking and through fees and taxes on airline tickets.
3. Civil Enclave Airports
A civil enclave is an area at a military air base allotted for the usage of civil aviation. Civil Enclave Airports usually have a curfew (mostly after sunset) during which civil aircraft are not permitted to operate.
List of International Airports in India
There are total 34 International Airports in India.
| S. No. | Name of the Airport | City, State/Union Territory |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Vishakhapatnam International Airport | Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh |
| 2. | Vijayawada International Airport | Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh |
| 3. | Veer Savarkar International Airport | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
| 4. | Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport | Guwahati, Assam |
| 5. | Ahilya Bai Holkar International Airport | Indore, Madhya Pradesh |
| 6. | Gaya International Airport | Gaya, Bihar |
| 7. | Rajiv Gandhi International Airport | Hyderabad, Telangana |
| 8. | Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport | Amritsar, Punjab |
| 9. | Biju Patnaik International Airport | Bhubaneshwar, Odisha |
| 10. | Kempegowda International Airport | Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| 11. | Mangalore International Airport | Mangalore, Karnataka |
| 12. | Indira Gandhi International Airport | New Delhi, Delhi |
| 13. | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport | Ahmedabad, Gujarat |
| 14. | Cochin International Airport | Kochi, Kerala |
| 15. | Trivandrum International Airport | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala |
| 16. | Calicut International Airport | Kozhikode, Kerala |
| 17. | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| 18. | Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport | Nagpur, Maharashtra |
| 19. | Chennai International Airport | Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| 20. | Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh |
| 21. | Tiruchirappalli International Airport | Tiruchirappalli , Tamil Nadu |
| 22. | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport | Kolkata, West Bengal |
| 23. | Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| 24. | Dabolim International Airport | Dabolim , Goa |
| 25. | Surat International Airport | Surat, Gujarat |
| 26. | Kannur International Airport | Kannur, Kerala |
| 27. | Coimbatore International Airport | Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu |
| 28. | Vadodara International Airport | Vadodara, Gujarat |
| 29. | Chandigarh International Airport | Chandigarh |
| 30. | Nashik International Airport | Nashik, Maharashtra |
| 31. | Kushinagar International Airport | Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh |
| 32. | Bagdogra International Airport | Siliguri, West Bengal |
| 33. | Madurai International Airport | Madurai, Tamil Nadu |
| 34. | Sheikh ul-Aalam International Airport | Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir |
