Porbandar Airport

Porbandar Airport
IATA: PBD ICAO: VAPR
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Porbandar
Location	Porbandar, Gujarat, India
Elevation  AMSL	17 ft / 7 m
Coordinates	21°38′55″N069°39′26″E / 21.64861°N 69.65722°E / 21.64861; 69.65722
Website	Porbandar Airport
Map
PBD Location of airport in India Show map of Gujarat PBD PBD (India) Show map of India
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27 1,372 4,500 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2024 - March 2025)
Passengers 694 ( 72.6%) Aircraft movements 133 ( 73.8%) Cargo tonnage -
Source: AAI [1] [2] [3]

Porbandar Airport( IATA : PBD, ICAO : VAPR) is a domestic airport and an Indian Navy base serving the city of Porbandar in the state of Gujarat, India. The airport had direct flights to Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai since the 1980s, all of which were discontinued in 2020. After a brief period of inactivity, the airport restarted operations in March 2025 with daily direct flights to Mumbai operated by SpiceJet, which was operated before until 2019 and 2021. ^[4] Apart from civilian operations, it has a military presence in the form of INAS 343 of the Indian Navy and CGAE Porbandar of the Indian Coast Guard. A new terminal building was opened in April 2008. ^[5]

Structure

The airfield is spread over 278.32 acres (1.1263 km²), has a 4,500 feet (1,400 m) long runway and an apron that can accommodate 2 ATR 72 aircraft. The new 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft) Terminal Building at Porbandar Airport has been built at a cost of ₹13.50 crore (US$1.6 million). The building has six Check-in Counters and two Conveyor Belts in the Arrivals hall and can handle 100 arriving and 100 departing passengers at a time. ^[5]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
SpiceJet	Mumbai

Military operations

Naval Air Enclave

• INAS 343, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Squadron, was commissioned at the Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar in January 2011. This is the first Operational UAV Squadron under the Western Naval Command. Nicknamed ‘Frontier Formidables’, the Squadron has the dual tasks of undertaking operational missions besides providing training. ^[6] As of 2024, the squadron operates 2 Drishti 10 Starliner UAVs inducted in 2024. ^[7]
• INAS 314 "Raptors" a new EW squadron was established on 29 November 2019. This squadron is responsible to undertake maritime surveillance in North Arabian Sea. Dornier 228 is currently operated by this squadron. ^[8]

CGAE Porbandar

Coast Guard Air Enclave, Porbandar, was commissioned on 12 June 2008. ^[9] It provides logistical and administrative support to the Dornier Flight and 850 Sqn (ICG) which operates the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). ^[10]

See also

• List of Indian Navy bases
• List of active Indian Navy ships

References

1. "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
2. "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
3. "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
4. "SpiceJet launches Mumbai-Porbandar flight; services resume after 3 years hiatus". DeshGujarat. 29 March 2025. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
5. New Terminal Building at Porbandar Airport Press Information Bureau, Government of India
6. UAV Squadron Commissioned at Porbandar Archived 6 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Indian NavyPress Release
7. "Adani Defence delivers 2nd Drishti-10 drone to Navy, boosting maritime surveillance capability". The Economic Times. 4 December 2024. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 18 December 2024.
8. "Commissioning of INAS 314 - "RAPTORS"". Indian Navy. 29 November 2019.
9. Commissioning of CGAE Porbandar Archived 2 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Indian Coast Guard
10. Indian Coast Guard Aviation Archived 31 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Indian Coast Guard

External links

• Official site