Car Nicobar Air Force Station
airport in India
Car Nicobar Air Force Station (IATA: CBD, ICAO: 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 204 hectares (504 acres). The 914-metre (3,000 ft) 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 2,708 metres (8,886 ft) 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 Mi-8 helicopters, Dorniers and an Air Defence unit are based here.
The airstrip was brought into operation by the IAF by raising a staging post in the year 1956, with its role as a refuelling station for all aircraft flying across the Bay of Bengal.
The public source identifies “Car Nicobar Air Force Station” as airport in India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Nicobar, Force and Station.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Car Nicobar Air Force Station”, the useful work is to connect “airport in India” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2172548. Authority coordinates are 9.152, 92.820. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 1945, 1967 and 1982.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Car Nicobar Air Force Station”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Car Nicobar Air Force Station primary sources, Car Nicobar Air Force Station archive and Nicobar research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Car Nicobar Air Force Station”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Car Nicobar Air Force Station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.