Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Imphal Airport, officially Bir Tikendrajit International Airport, serves the Manipur state capital in India's northeast and sits at a field elevation of 2,539 feet amid the hill-ringed Imphal valley. Once an all-weather Royal Air Force base during the Second World War, it has grown into the third-busiest airport in the northeast, handling both domestic and limited international traffic on a single long instrument runway.
Imphal Airport, known officially as Bir Tikendrajit International Airport and long referred to locally as Tulihal Airport, lies at Tulihal on the southern edge of Imphal, the capital of Manipur. It is operated by the Airports Authority of India and is the second-largest and third-busiest airport in Northeast India, behind Guwahati and Agartala. For a simulator pilot the field offers an interesting approach into a valley surrounded by hills, together with a slice of Second World War history as a former RAF operational base.
The airport is located at Tulihal, about 7 km south of Imphal city centre, in the state of Manipur in northeast India. It sits within the broad Imphal valley, which is enclosed by hill ranges on most sides, a feature that shapes arrivals and departures into the field.
Imphal has a single physical runway, 04/22, of 8,995 feet on a hard paved surface. Both directions are lit, and an ILS is provided for runway 04, supporting instrument approaches into the valley.
The tower frequency is 123.5 MHz. An ILS serves runway 04, providing instrument guidance for approaches from that direction.
The airfield has its origins in the Second World War, when it functioned as an all-weather Royal Air Force base. Civilian air services in Imphal were originally based at the nearby Koirengei Airfield, but Tulihal took over civilian operations in 1959. The airport has since been known by several names: Tulihal International Airport, Imphal International Airport, and, since a renaming that drew local opposition, Bir Tikendrajit International Airport, after the Meitei prince Bir Tikendrajit. On 16 August 1991, Indian Airlines Flight 257 crashed while on approach to the airport, killing all 69 people aboard.
Imphal Airport is operated by the Airports Authority of India and functions as an international airport, though scheduled traffic is presently dominated by domestic services from carriers including Air India Express, Alliance Air and IndiGo, connecting Imphal to destinations such as Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata, Agartala, Bangalore, Shillong, Dimapur, Silchar, Aizawl and Tezu. From 2019 the AAI has been carrying out a substantial upgrade programme, including a new integrated terminal building, additional aircraft parking bays, link taxiways and a new air traffic control tower, reflecting the airport's growing role as the principal air gateway to Manipur.