1.
Ranchi
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Ranchi is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand, and now it is the most populous city of the state. The Jharkhand state was formed on 15 November 2000 by carving out the Bihar divisions of Chota Nagpur, the name Ranchi is derived from the previous name of the Oraon village at the same site, Archi. Archi derives from the Oraon word for bamboo grove or stave, according to legend, after an altercation with a spirit, a farmer beat the spirit with his bamboo stave. The spirit shouted archi, archi, archi and vanished, Archi became Rachi, which became Ranchi. One of the historically significant neighbourhoods of Rachi is Doranda, Doranda lies between the Hinoo & Harmoo Rivers, where the civil station, treasury and church established by the British Raj were destroyed by rebel forces during the Sepoy Mutiny. Ranchi has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a city under PM Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Ranchi is well known for being the hometown of former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni, Ranchi lies at 23°22′N 85°20′E near to the Tropic of Cancer. Its municipal area is 175.12 km2, and its elevation is 651 m above sea level. Ranchi is located in the part of the Chota Nagpur plateau. Ranchi has a topography and its dense tropical forests a combination that produces a relatively moderate climate compared to the rest of the state. However, due to the deforestation, and development of the city. Although Ranchi has a subtropical climate, its location and the forests surrounding it combine to produce the unusually pleasant climate for which its known. Summer temperatures range from 20 °C to 42 degrees, winter temperatures from 0 °C to 25 degrees, december and January are the coolest months, with temperatures dipping to the freezing point in some areas. The annual rainfall is about 1430 mm, from June to September the rainfall is about 1,100 mm. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is Cwa, as of 2011 India census, Ranchi municipal corporation has a population of 1,120,374, making it the 46th largest urban city in India. Males constitute 51. 3% of the population and females 48. 7%, Ranchi city has an average literacy rate of 87. 68%. The city witnessed a surge in population after the declaration of the new state of Jharkhand in 2000. Owing to the employment opportunities and opening of numerous regional and state level offices, banks, and FMCG companies
2.
Runway
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According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a runway is a defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. Runways may be a surface or a natural surface. Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the heading in decadegrees. This heading differs from true north by the magnetic declination. A runway numbered 09 points east, runway 18 is south, runway 27 points west, when taking off from or landing on runway 09, a plane would be heading 90°. A runway can normally be used in both directions, and is named for each separately, e. g. runway 33 in one direction is runway 15 when used in the other. The two numbers usually differ by 18, Runway Zero Three Left becomes Runway Two One Right when used in the opposite direction. In some countries, if parallel runways are too close to each other, at large airports with four or more parallel runways some runway identifiers are shifted by 10 degrees to avoid the ambiguity that would result with more than three parallel runways. For example, in Los Angeles, this results in runways 6L, 6R, 7L. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, there are five parallel runways, named 17L, 17C, 17R, 18L, for clarity in radio communications, each digit in the runway name is pronounced individually, runway three six, runway one four, etc. A leading zero, for example in runway zero six or runway zero one left, is included for all ICAO, however, most U. S. civil aviation airports drop the leading zero as required by FAA regulation. This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield and this American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It is very common in a such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, runway 04. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U. S. usage to airports around the world, for example, runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Runway designations change over time because the magnetic poles slowly drift on the Earths surface, depending on the airport location and how much drift takes place, it may be necessary over time to change the runway designation. As runways are designated with headings rounded to the nearest 10 degrees, for example, if the magnetic heading of a runway is 233 degrees, it would be designated Runway 23. If the magnetic heading changed downwards by 5 degrees to 228, if on the other hand the original magnetic heading was 226, and the heading decreased by only 2 degrees to 224, the runway should become Runway 22. Because the drift itself is slow, runway designation changes are uncommon
3.
Asphalt
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Asphalt, also known as bitumen is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in deposits or may be a refined product. Until the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used, the word is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος ásphaltos. The primary use of asphalt/bitumen is in construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt, the terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English, asphalt is the carefully refined residue from the process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called bitumen, geologists often prefer the term bitumen. Common usage often refers to forms of asphalt/bitumen as tar. Naturally occurring asphalt/bitumen is sometimes specified by the crude bitumen. Its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses while the material obtained from the distillation of crude oil boiling at 525 °C is sometimes referred to as refined bitumen. The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the reserves of natural bitumen, covering 142,000 square kilometres. Additionally, most natural bitumens contain organosulfur compounds, resulting in a sulfur content of up to 4%. Nickel and vanadium are found in the <10 ppm level, as is typical of some petroleum, the substance is soluble in carbon disulfide. It is commonly modelled as a colloid, with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase, and it is almost impossible to separate and identify all the different molecules of asphalt, because the number of molecules with different chemical structure is extremely large. Asphalt/bitumen can sometimes be confused with tar, which is a visually similar black. During the early and mid-20th century when town gas was produced, coal tar was a readily available byproduct, the addition of tar to macadam roads led to the word tarmac, which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since the 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, other examples of this confusion include the La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian oil sands, both of which actually contain natural bitumen rather than tar. Pitch is another term used at times to refer to asphalt/bitumen
4.
Helipad
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A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. Larger helipads, intended for use by helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing aircraft, an example is Vertiport Chicago, which opened in 2015. Helipads may be located at a heliport or airport where fuel, air traffic control, some basic helipads are built on highrise buildings for evacuation in case of a major fire outbreak. Major police departments may use a dedicated helipad at heliports as a base for police helicopters, large ships and oil platforms usually have a helipad on board for emergency use. In such a case, the term helideck or helodeck has been used in the meaning of a helipad on board. In urban environments, these heliports are typically located on the roof of the hospital, rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit of the pad. In addition, a number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet. Location identifiers are often, but not always, issued for helipads and they may be issued by the appropriate aviation authority. Some helipads may have location identifiers from multiple sources, and these identifiers may be of different format, helipads are usually constructed out of concrete and are marked with a circle and/or a letter H, so as to be visible from the air. However, they are not always constructed out of concrete, sometimes wildfire fighters will construct a temporary helipad out of timbers to receive supplies in remote areas, rig mats may be used to build helipads. Landing pads may also be constructed in extreme conditions such as on ice, the worlds highest helipad, built by India, is located on the Siachen Glacier at a height of 21,000 feet above sea level. The worlds largest heliport is in Morgan City, Louisiana, and has a total of 46 helipads, used mostly to support offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. A portable helipad is a structure with a rugged frame that can be used to land helicopters in any areas with slopes of up to 30 degrees, such as hillsides, riverbeds. Portable helipads can be transported by helicopter or powered-lift to place them where a VTOL needs to land, helicopter deck Heliport de Voogt, A. J
5.
Jharkhand
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Jharkhand is a state in eastern India carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. The state shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south and it has an area of 79,710 km2. The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub capital, Jamshedpur is the largest industrial city in the state, while Dhanbad and Bokaro Steel City are the second and fourth most populous cities respectively. The State is primarily a state as only 24 percent of the population resides in Cities. According to writers including Gautam Kumar Bera, there was already a distinct geo-political, cultural entity called Jharkhand even before the Magadha Empire, beras book also refers to the Hindu epic Bhavishya Purana. The tribal rulers, some of whom continue to thrive till today were known as the Munda Rajas, for a greater part of Vedic age, Jharkhand remained unnoticed. During the age of Mahajanpadas around 500 BC, India saw the emergence of 16 large states that controlled the entire Indian subcontinent, in those days the northern portion of Jharkhand state was a tributary state of Magadha Empire and southern part was a tributary of Kalinga Empire. According to legend, Raja Jai Singh Deo of Odisha declared himself the ruler of Jharkhand in the 13th century, the Singh Deos of Orissa were influential in the early history of Jharkhand. The local tribal heads had developed into barbaric dictators who could govern the province neither fairly nor justly, consequently, the people of this state approached the more powerful rulers of Jharkhands neighboring states who were perceived to have a more fair and just governance. The good tribal rulers continued to thrive and were known as the Munda Rajas, later, during the Mughal period, the Jharkhand area was known as Kukara. In the year 1765, it came under the control of the British Empire and became known under its present title, Jharkhand — the Land of jungles. In 1765, the region came under the control of the British East India Company, the subjugation and colonisation of Jharkhand region by the British East India Company resulted in spontaneous resistance from the local people. The first ever revolt against the landlords and the British government was led by Tilka Manjhi and he wanted to liberate his people from the clutches of the unscrupulous landlords and restore the lands of their ancestors. The British government sent its troops and crushed the uprisings of Tilka Manjhi, soon after in 1779, the Bhumij tribes rose in arms against the British rule in Manbhum, now in West Bengal. This was followed by the Chero tribes unrest in Palamau and they revolted against the British rule in 1800 AD. Hardly seven years later in 1807, the Oraons in Barway murdered their big landlord of Srinagar west of Gumla, soon the uprisings spread around Gumla. The tribal uprisings spread eastward to neighbouring Tamar areas of the Munda tribes and they too rose in revolt in 1811 and 1813. The Hos in Singhbhum were growing restless and came out in revolt in 1820 and fought against the landlords
6.
Airport terminal
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An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer their luggage, the buildings that provide access to the airplanes are typically called concourses. However, the terminal and concourse are sometimes used interchangeably. Smaller airports have one terminal while larger airports have several terminals and/or concourses, at small airports, the single terminal building typically serves all of the functions of a terminal and a concourse. Some larger airports have one terminal that is connected to multiple concourses via walkways, sky-bridges, some larger airports have more than one terminal, each with one or more concourses. Still other larger airports have multiple terminals each of which incorporate the functions of a concourse, due to the rapid rise in popularity of passenger flight, many early terminals were built in the 1930s–1940s and reflected the popular art deco style architecture of the time. One such surviving example from 1940 is the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal, early airport terminals opened directly onto the tarmac, passengers would walk or take a bus to their aircraft. This design is common among smaller airports, and even many larger airports have bus gates to accommodate aircraft beyond the main terminal. A pier design uses a small, narrow building with aircraft parked on both sides, one end connects to a ticketing and baggage claim area. Piers offer high capacity and simplicity of design, but often result in a long distance from the check-in counter to the gate. A satellite terminal is a building detached from other airport buildings, the first airport to use a satellite terminal was London Gatwick Airport. It used a pedestrian tunnel to connect the satellite to the main terminal. This was also the first setup at Los Angeles International Airport, the first airport to use an automatic people mover to connect the main terminal with a satellite was Tampa International Airport, which is the standard today. Other examples include the following, Pariss Charles de Gaulle Airport, Geneva International Airport and London Gatwick Airport have circular satellite terminals, lisbon Internacional Airport has a small rectangular satellite terminal, connect by a free shuttle service. Orlando International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport have multi-pier satellite terminals, brussels Airports Pier A is connected to the main building via underground tunnels and walkways. Zurich Airports Midfield Terminal is connected to the terminal via an underground Skymetro. At Logan International Airport in Boston, Terminal A has two sections of gates, one of which is a terminal connected by an underground walkway. Denver International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have linear satellite terminals connected by central passages, the linear satellite terminals are connected by automatic people movers
7.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
8.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
9.
Singapore
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Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub, the country has also been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four languages on the island, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has also been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was part of the Johor Sultanate. The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations
10.
Kempegowda International Airport
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Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bangalore, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Spread over 4,000 acres, it is located about 40 kilometres north of the city near the village of Devanahalli and it is owned and operated by Bangalore International Airport Limited, a public–private consortium. The airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to increased congestion at HAL Airport and it is named after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bangalore. As of 2016, Kempegowda Airport is the third busiest airport by traffic in the country, behind the airports in Delhi. It handled over 22.2 million passengers in 2016 with little less than 500 aircraft movements a day, the airport also handled about 314,060 tonnes of cargo. The airport consists of a runway and passenger terminal, which handles both domestic and international operations. A second runway and terminal are in the stages of planning. In addition, there is a village and three cargo terminals. The airport serves as a hub for AirAsia India, Air India Regional, Air Pegasus and it is also a focus city for IndiGo. The original airport serving Bangalore was HAL Airport, located 10 kilometres from the city centre, however, as Bangalore grew into the Silicon Valley of India and passenger traffic to the city rose, the airport was unable to cope. There was no room for expansion and the apron could only park six aircraft, in March 1991, former chairman of the National Airports Authority of India S. Ramanathan convened a panel to select the site for a new airport. The panel decided on Devanahalli, a village about 40 kilometres north of Bangalore, the State Government made a proposal to build the airport with private assistance, which the Union Government approved in 1994. In December 1995, a consortium consisting of Tata Group, Raytheon, in June 1998, however, the consortium announced it was pulling out of the project due to delays in government approval. These included disputes over the location of the airport and the fate of HAL Airport and it would be a public–private partnership, with AAI and KSIIDC having a 26% share and private companies having the remaining 74%. In January 2001, the State Government created the company Bangalore International Airport Limited as a special purpose entity, by November, the project had attracted Unique Zürich Airport, Siemens Project Ventures and Larsen & Toubro. Construction was expected to begin in October 2002, however, governmental delays persisted, the concession agreement between the State Government, the Union Government and BIAL was signed in July 2004. In it, BIAL required the closure of HAL Airport, construction finally commenced on 2 July 2005. The cost of the rose to ₹1,930 crore
11.
Indira Gandhi International Airport
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Indira Gandhi International Airport serves as the primary civilian aviation hub for the National Capital Region of Delhi, India. The airport, spread over an area of 5,106 acres, is situated in Palam,15 km south-west of the New Delhi railway station and 16 km from New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi, a former Prime Minister of India and it is busiest airport in the country in terms of cargo traffic in the recent year overtaking Mumbai during late 2015. With the commencement of operations at Terminal 3 in 2010, it became Indias and South Asias largest aviation hub, the planned expansion program will increase the airports capacity to handle 100 million passengers by 2030. The airport handled over 48 million passengers in the fiscal year 2015–16, in calendar year 2016, the airport was the 21st busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic and 10th busiest airport in Asia handling over 55 million passengers. The airport was operated by the Indian Air Force before its management was transferred to the Airports Authority of India, in May 2006, the management of the airport was passed over to Delhi International Airport Limited, a consortium led by the GMR Group. In September 2008, the airport inaugurated a 4,430 m runway, the Terminal 3 building, which commenced operations in 2010, has a capacity to handle 34 million passengers annually. Terminal 3 is the worlds 8th largest passenger terminal, the airport uses an advanced system called Airport Collaborative Decision Making to help keep takeoffs and landings timely and predictable. In 2010, IGIA was conferred the fourth best airport award in the world in the 15–25 million category, the airport was rated as the Best airport in the world in the 25–40 million passengers category in 2015, by Airports Council International. Delhi Airport was awarded The Best Airport in Central Asia and Best Airport Staff in Central Asia at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2015, IGI also stood first in the new rankings for 2015 Airport Service Quality Awards. Safdarjung Airport was built in 1930 and was the airport for Delhi until 1962. Due to increasing passenger traffic at Safdarjung, civilian operations were moved to Palam Airport in 1962, Palam Airport had been built during World War II as RAF Station Palam and after the British left, it served as an Air Force Station for the Indian Air Force. Palam Airport had a capacity of around 1,300 passengers per hour. Owing to an increase in air traffic in the 1970s, a terminal with nearly four times the area of the old Palam terminal was constructed. With the inauguration of a new terminal, on 2 May 1986. On 2 May 2006, the management of Delhi and Mumbai airports were handed over to the private consortia, Delhi International Airport Limited is a consortium of the GMR Group, Fraport and Malaysia Airports, and the Airports Authority of India retains a 26% stake. Nine years later, in May 2015, Malaysia Airports chose it exit from DIAL venture, following this GMR Groups stake at DIAL increased to 64%. Earlier GMR indicated that it was interested in buying out the 10% stake of Fraport, the old domestic airport is known as Terminal 1 and handles domestic flights for all budget airlines
12.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport
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Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport is an international airport located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, serving the Kolkata metropolitan area. It is located approximately 17 km from the city center, the airport was earlier known as Dum Dum Airport before being renamed after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a prominent leader of the Indian independence movement. Spread over an area of 2,460 acres, Kolkata airport is the largest hub for air traffic in the part of the country. And one of two airports operating in West Bengal, the other one being in Bagdogra. The airport handled over 14.6 million passengers in 2016 making it the fifth busiest airport in India in terms of traffic after Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore. The Airport is a centre for flights to Northeast India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China. In 2014 &2015, Kolkata Airport won the titles of Best Improved Airport in the Asia-Pacific region by the Airport Council International, Kolkata airport traditionally served as a strategic stopover on the air route from Europe to Indochina and Australia. Many pioneering flights passed through the airport, including that of Amelia Earhart in 1937, the airport began as an open ground next to the Royal Artillery Armoury in Dum Dum. Sir Stanley Jackson, Governor of Bengal, opened the Bengal Flying Club at Calcutta aerodrome in February 1929, in 1930, the airfield was made fit for use throughout the year, and other airlines began to utilise the airport. Air Orient began scheduled stops as part of a Paris to Saigon route and this began a trend that drew many airlines to Calcutta airport. Calcutta played an important role in the Second World War, in 1942, the United States Army Air Forces 7th Bombardment Group flew B-24 Liberator bombers from the airport on combat missions over Burma. The airfield was used as an aerial port for the Air Transport Command. Passenger services grew after the Second World War, Calcutta became a destination for the world’s first jet-powered passenger aircraft, the de Havilland Comet, on a British Overseas Airways Corporation route to London. Furthermore, in 1964 Indian Airlines introduced the first Indian domestic jet service, due to the introduction of longer haul aircraft and the poor political climate of Calcutta during the 1960s, several airlines discontinued their service to the airport. The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War saw an increase of both refugees and disease in Calcutta, causing more airlines to cease services to the city. In 1975, the airport opened the first dedicated cargo terminal in India, in the early 1980s, plans emerged to connect the airport with the city center by tram. The proposed route went to the airport from Maniktala, via Vivekananda Road, Ultadanga, the line partly completed 1985, but further expansion to the airport was cancelled due to the financial downing of Calcutta Tramways Company. The extension proposal re-appeared in 1999, but was cancelled, the 1990s saw new growth for Calcutta airport, as the Indian aviation industry saw the arrival of new airlines such as Jet Airways and Air Sahara
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Media related to Birsa Munda Airport at Wikimedia Commons