INS Garuda

INS Garuda (ICAO: VOCC), is an Indian Naval Air Station located in Willingdon Island near Kochi, in the state of Kerala. Commissioned on 11 May 1953, it is the oldest operating air station of the Indian Navy.

The air station is adjacent to INS Venduruthy and the headquarters of Southern Naval Command. INS Garuda is a major naval air training center as well as an operational base.

INS Garuda has 2 intersecting runways, allowing almost all operational aircraft to land and take off. The Indian Naval Air Station is at an elevation of 8 ft (2 m) above mean sea level. The runways designated at 13/31 and 17/35 which measures 1,414 m (4,680 ft) and 1,817 m (5,960 ft) in length respectively.

The 2 intersecting runways are with asphalt surface and manage by Indian Navy.

The INS Garuda has remained a strategic operating station for the navy, with several training schools, intelligence centers, maintenance and repair facilities and experimental stations based here. A separate civil enclave for domestic travellers was allowed to operate at INS Garuda, which remained operational until July 1999, when the Cochin International Airport was commissioned.

folder_open  Airports in Kerala