Safdarjung Airport | |||||||||||
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 Terminal building of Safdarjung Airport | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | India | ||||||||||
| Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | New Delhi | ||||||||||
| Location | Aurobindo Marg,New Delhi | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 805 ft / 215 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 28°35′04″N077°12′21″E / 28.58444°N 77.20583°E /28.58444; 77.20583 | ||||||||||
 Interactive map of Safdarjung Airport | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Safdarjung Airport (IATA:N/A,ICAO:VIDD) is an airport inNew Delhi,India, in theneighbourhood of the same name. Established during theBritish Raj asWillingdon Airfield, it started operations as anaerodrome in 1929, when it was India's secondairport after theJuhu Aerodrome in Mumbai. It was used extensively during theSecond World War as it was part of the South Atlantic air ferry route, and later duringIndo-Pakistani War of 1947. Once situated on the edge ofLutyens' Delhi, today, it has the entire city of New Delhi around it. It remained the city's main airport until 1962, when operations shifted toPalam Airport completely by the late 1960s, as it could not support the new bigger aircraft such asjet aircraft.[1][2]
TheDelhi Flying Club was established here in 1928 with twode Havilland Moth aircraft named ‘Delhi’ and ‘Roshanara’. The airport functioned until 2001, however in January 2002, due to security considerations in the post9/11 scenario, the government closed the airport for flying activities, the club only carries out aircraft maintenance courses today.[3] Today it is mostly used forVVIP helicopter passenger flights to theIndira Gandhi International Airport including the President and the Prime Minister.[4][5] The 190 acre airport complex has theRajiv Gandhi Bhawan on its grounds, which houses theMinistry of Civil Aviation as well as the headquarters of theAirports Authority of India (AAI).[4]
Willingdon Airfield, as it was first known, was named afterLord Willingdon, theViceroy and Governor-General of India (1931–36). It was contracted by Gurcharan Singh, Ram Singh Kabli andSir Sobha Singh.[6] As New Delhi's first airport, it initially used grass runways and tents. The firstairmail flight arrived on 30 November 1918. Also in the same year, the first London-Cairo-Delhi flight landed. It took another decade for complete airport infrastructure to come up, when the firstcommercial flight landed in 1927. In 1928, Willingdon Airfield was renamed 'Willingdon Airport' and Delhi Flying Club was established.[1]
In 1941, when theBritish Indian Army decided to raise its own airborne/parachute units, the southwest corner of the airport served as the site where the Air Landing School (ALS) of theRoyal Indian Air Force was located and started operations. It was here the first paratroopers in India were trained, which included the first Indianparatrooper, Lt (later Col) AG Ranjaraj, MVC, (Indian Medical Service and the Regimental Medical Officer of the 152 (Indian) Parachute Battalion) and earned their wings.
Post-independence in 1947, Willingdon was renamed Safdarjung, after nearbySafdarjung's Tomb, which serves as a backdrop to the airport. It served as Delhi's main airport for over two decades, until a new site was chosen in west Delhi, known as Palam, then on city's outskirts, giving itsPalam Airport. Palam Airport, started as RAF Station Palam, duringWorld War II, is now much enlarged and known asIndira Gandhi International Airport, where the passenger operations were shifted in 1962 due to an increase in traffic.[10] It is still used forgeneral aviation purposes and smallpropeller planes take off and land from the airport. However, planes are cautioned when landing, since the airport is situated right next to a flyover highway.Indira Gandhi International Airport is the airport serving New Delhi; a much larger airport with four runways and over sixty domestic and international carriers serving it.
In 2001, after9/11 theMinistry of Home Affairs decided to use the airport as the emergency getaway for the President and the PM. Thereafter in 2002, for security considerations, the government closed the airport for all public flying activities,[3] and all Delhi Flying Club (DFC) flights were shifted toHisar Airport.[11] Since then, the airport is largely being used for VVIP helicopter transit to theIndira Gandhi International Airport for security reasons and also to avoid blocking vehicular traffic during the process. Since the early 2000s, when going on foreign trip, the PM receives his send-offs from his cabinet members and other dignitaries here, instead of the main airport.[12] The airstrip is also used for small aircraft of state chief ministers such as those ofPunjab andHaryana, making it to 80 to 90 helicopter movements every month.[13] and occasionally by Airport Authority of India, and Helicopter service company,Pawan Hans.
During the2010 Commonwealth Games, it was used as a park-and-ride facility, for parking of vehicles for those going to theJawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Spread over 1,70,000 sq.m., the parking area could accommodate 3000 cars, 6000 two-wheelers and 450 buses of the shuttle service bus. In a year-long project, theNDMC undertook extensive renovation of the area, which included construction of new roads within the airport premises, and installation ofjersey barriers between the main tarmac and temporary parking area.[14]
A 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long tunnel connects the Indian prime minister's residence to Safdarjung Airport, where VVIP helicopters land. Constructed beyond Kemal Atatürk Marg, Golf Course andSafdarjung Tomb and then an overground drive to surface at the helicopter hangar at the airport, work on the tunnel began in 2010 and was completed by July 2014 and Modi was the first PM to use it.[15]
Nearby residential areas of this airport are Jorbagh,Laxmibai Nagar,INA Colony which houses employees of Airport Authority, andSarojini Nagar.
The headquarters of theAirports Authority of India, which functions under theMinistry of Civil Aviation and manages most of theairports in India, and the ministry itself is located inRajiv Gandhi Bhawan on the grounds of the airport.[16] TheIndira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi has its Delhi liaison office in the administrative block of the airport.[17]
TheDirectorate General of Civil Aviation has its headquarters opposite of the airport.[18]
An office building, Udaan Bhawan, opened on the airport property in 2023.[19] TheAircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has its head office in that building.[20] Previously the AAIB head office was elsewhere on the airport property.[21]
There is a special link from Prime Minister residence, 7 RCR (Now7, Lok Kalyan Marg) to Safadarjung Airport.[22][23] Safdarjung airport serves as a conduit for flying VVIPs to Indira Gandhi International Airport when they travel out of Delhi.
Safdarjung Airport is the setting for part ofThe Adventures of Tintin comic,Tintin in Tibet, byHergé.Tintin,Snowy, andCaptain Haddock have a stop-over inIndia, and they depart from Willingdon Airfield (now Safdarjung Airport).
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau Udaan Bhawan Aurobindo Marg New Delhi-110003 India
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau Safdarjung Airport Arobindo Marg New Delhi-110003
