[1] The airport is a major centre for flights to Northeast India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Southeast Asia and the Middle Eastern cities of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport was founded in the early 1900s as the Calcutta Aerodrome.

[4] The airport traditionally served as a strategic stopover on the air route from North America and Europe to Indochina and Australia.

In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces 7th Bombardment Group flew B-24 Liberator bombers from the airport on combat missions over Burma.

Calcutta became a destination for the world's first jet-powered passenger aircraft, the de Havilland Comet, on a British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) route to London.

[37] 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 a large increase of both refugees and disease in Calcutta, causing more airlines to cease services to the city.

[38] 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.

[39][49] Commercial operations were intended to start on 23 January 2013, the 116th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

[56][57] Air India operates hangars at the airport, while Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil act as fuellers.

There are plans to construct an 18-foot bronze statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the integrated terminal complex.

An earlier proposal of continuing low-cost carrier operations from the existing domestic terminal has been shelved due to the need to fully utilise the new integrated terminal's capacity, making it the first airport in India to shift even its low-cost domestic airlines to the new integrated building upon completion.

[66] In the financial year from April 2011 to March 2012, Kolkata Airport served 10.3 million passengers, 85% which were travelling domestically.

[67] The withdrawal of Lufthansa's service to Frankfurt in March 2012 left Kolkata with no direct connections beyond Asia.

AAI officials have announced that they are prepared to execute Phase 2 of the Kolkata Airport expansion plan.

[66] The new terminal T2 inaugurated in 2013 is on the verge of reaching its annual capacity of 26 million passengers four years ahead of the initial projections.

The building will be linked with the existing terminal of the airport with the help of walkalators and would also have walk-in gates on the ground floor.

[78][80] The new building will be U-shaped where the rectangular section (the location of parking lot of old terminal) will host the check-in counters, security check portals and baggage handling facilities.

The two arms (one each at the northern and southern end) will function as concourse and will host operational area, house boarding gates and aerobridges.

In this phase, the old Air Traffic Navigation Building will be demolished to make way for the northern concourse of the new terminal as mentioned above.

The airport has a well-established facility of prepaid taxis and air-conditioned buses connecting it to the city centre.

As part of the larger modernisation programme, a flyover at Nagerbazar and an entry ramp on VIP Road have also been constructed.

[154][155][156] West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) operates air conditioned buses to major parts of Kolkata from 08:00 to 21:00 throughout the week.

[162] On 2 May 1953, BOAC Flight 783 de Havilland Comet bound for Delhi crashed after takeoff from Calcutta Airport with the loss of 43 lives.

Parts of the aircraft were found spread over an area of 8 km², near Jugalgari, a village some 25 miles north-west of Calcutta, suggesting disintegration before impact with the ground.

[163] On 12 June 1968, a Pan-Am Flight (N798PA, named Clipper Caribbean) Boeing 707-321C struck a tree 1128 m short of the runway during a night-time visual approach in rain.

[164][165] On 22 December 2015, a Jet Airways bus slammed into the side of an Air India Regional ATR 42-500 aircraft.

[166][167] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Media related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at Wikimedia Commons