Tumita7029 at 14:25, 16 June 2025

2025-06-16T14:25:51Z

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{{Short description|Airport in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox airport
| name = Car Nicobar Air Force Station
| image = First landing of the C 130J Super Hercules aircraft, at Car Nicobar airbase on May 28, 2012.jpg
| IATA = CBD
| ICAO = VOCX
| pushpin_map = India Andaman and Nicobar Islands#India
| pushpin_relief = 1
| pushpin_map_caption = {{nobold|Location of airport in India}}
| pushpin_label = '''CBD'''
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| type = Military
| operator = [[Indian Air Force]]
| location = [[Car Nicobar]], [[India]]
| elevation-f = 5
| elevation-m = 2
| coordinates = {{coord|09|09|09|N|092|49|11|E|region:IN_type:airport}}
| r1-number = 02/20
| r1-length-f = 8,914
| r1-length-m = 2,717
| metric-elev = yes
| metric-rwy = yes
| r1-surface = Concrete
| footnotes = Sources:<ref name="WAD">[https://skyvector.com/airport/VOCX/Carnicobar-Airport] from [[ARINC]] (ARINC Data Effective 2021-12-02 0901Z)</ref>
}}

'''Car Nicobar Air Force Station''' {{Airport codes|CBD|VOCX}} is located in [[IAF Camp]] village, on [[Car Nicobar]] Island in the [[union territory]] of the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], [[India]].

==History==
The 37 Wing Air Force Station at Car Nicobar has an area of {{convert|504|acre|order=flip}}. The {{convert|3000|ft|0|adj=on|order=flip}} [[bitumen]] runway was built by the Japanese during their occupation of these islands between 1942 and 1945. After 1945, it was used by the British Royal Air Force as a refuelling base for regular (generally twice-weekly) flights between RAF Negombo (now [[Colombo International Airport]]) in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and RAF Changi in Singapore (& vice versa), with an additional stop in RAF Butterworth, on the Malayan peninsula (opposite Penang). These flights were generally operated by [[Vickers Valetta]] twin-prop aircraft. The runway was extended to {{convert|8886|ft|0|order=flip}} by the [[Indian Air Force]] (IAF) in 1967. The first Mi-8 helicopter arrived here in 1982. Besides the [[No. 122 Helicopter Flight, IAF]] of [[Mil Mi-8|Mi-8]] helicopters,<ref>{{cite web |title=Squadrons ad Helicopter units |url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Units/Squadrons/292-Squadrons.html |work=[[Bharat-rakshak.com]] |access-date=9 January 2012 |archive-date=14 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414024030/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Units/Squadrons/292-Squadrons.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Dornier Flugzeugwerke|Dorniers]] and an Air Defence unit are based here.<ref>{{cite web |title=Andaman & Nicobar Command Saga of Synergy |url=http://www.sainiksamachar.nic.in/englisharchives/2011/oct16-11/h5.htm |work=Sainik Samachar Archive |access-date= 9 January 2012 }}</ref>

The airstrip was brought into operation by the IAF by raising a staging post in the year 1956,<ref>{{cite web |last=Gupta |first=Anchit |title=Car Nicobar: The Island That Became an Accidental IAF Staging Post |url=https://iafhistory.in/2022/09/22/car-nicobar-the-island-that-became-an-accidental-iaf-staging-post/ |website=IAFHistory |date=22 September 2022 |access-date=5 May 2025}}</ref> with its role as a refuelling station for all aircraft flying across the Bay of Bengal. The Helicopter Flight was later inducted on 1 April 1985. The Base was upgraded to Forward Base Support Units (FBSU) on 23 August 1986 and subsequently as a Wing on 15 September 1993.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Air Element |url=http://purpleberet.com/details/onceupon_detail.aspx?id=97 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713170741/http://purpleberet.com/details/onceupon_detail.aspx?id=97 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 July 2012 |work=Purple Beret.com |access-date=9 January 2012 }}</ref>

The air station was devastated by the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]], when 116 IAF officers and men, and wives and children, died. Little remained of the air base, which was established as India's southernmost defence post. IAF personnel worked night and day: the runway was repaired, navigational aids and the basic infrastructure were put back in place. On 14 April, just three-and-a-half months later, the Car Nicobar Air Station resumed operations.<ref>{{cite news |title=IAF Air Base rises from tsunami wreckage |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2005/jun/24spec1.htm |work = Rediff News |access-date= 9 January 2012 }}</ref>

==Structure==
The airport resides at an [[elevation]] of {{convert|5|ft|0|order=flip}} above [[mean sea level]]. It has one [[runway]] designated 02/20 with a [[concrete]] surface measuring {{convert|2717|x|43|m|0}}.<ref name="WAD" />

== Commercial services ==
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration operates biweekly flights every Monday and Friday between [[Veer Savarkar International Airport|Port Blair]] and [[INS Baaz|Campbell Bay]] via Car Nicobar with 10 seater [[Do 228|D228]] aircraft chartered from the Indian Air Force.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://echoofindia.com/port-blair-launch-iaf-dornier-flight-services-lg-and-cs-flag-113174 |title=Air Force Started Flights Between Inter Islands |access-date=24 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806175141/http://echoofindia.com/port-blair-launch-iaf-dornier-flight-services-lg-and-cs-flag-113174 |archive-date=6 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There is also a regular helicopter service by [[Pawan Hans]] between Car Nicobar, [[Port Blair]] and the various islands of [[Nicobar district]].

==References==
<references />

{{Airports in India}}
{{Nicobar district |state=collapsed}}

{{authority control}}
Carnicobar (Iaf)
Code: VOCX*
IATA Code: CBD
Lat,Lon: 9.1525,92.8196
State: India
Elevation: 5
City: Iaf Camp
FIR: VOMF
Schedule: No
{{Indian Air Force}}

[[Category:Airports in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:World War II sites in India]]
[[Category:1940s establishments in India]]
[[Category:Military airbases established in the 1940s]]
[[Category:20th-century architecture in India]]

Car Nicobar Air Force Station - Revision history

Tumita7029 at 14:25, 16 June 2025