HOW TO REACH ANDAMANS ?
How to Reach
The Veer Savarkar Airport, an International Airport is located in the capital town of Port Blair, the gateway to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Port Blair, is connected with Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Bhubaneshwar by air. Air India, Jet Airways, Jet lite, Go Air & Spice Jet Airlines operate regular flights. Foreign chartered flights are also permitted to land at Port Blair subject to the fulfilment of guidelines of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Regular passenger ship services are available to Port Blair from Chennai, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam and back. There are three to four sailings every month from Kolkata and Chennai to Port Blair and vice-versa. There is only one sailing for Visakhapatnam in a month. The voyage takes about 50 to 60 hours during fair weather.
INTER-ISLAND CONNECTIVITY – BY FERRY
The Directorate of Shipping Services, A & N Administration operates regular ferry services from Phoenix Bay Jetty, Port Blair in the inter-island and foreshore sectors connecting all populated island/tourist places. The Directorate also operates vehicle ferries to important locations and several Harbour ferries. The sailing schedules are published in the Administration’s News Paper – The Daily Telegrams (English Daily) and Dweep Samachar (Hindi Daily). The All India Radio & Doordarshan also announce sailing schedules besides official website. Tickets are issued through the ‘STARS’ counters located at Phoenix Bay Jetty, managed by the Directorate of Shipping Services.
For tourists, private boats are operated from Aberdeen Jetty (Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex), Port Blair to nearby tourist places like Ross Island, Viper Island, North Bay, Harbour Cruise etc. Private tourist boats are also available at Wandoor (Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park) for journey to Jolly Buoy and Red Skin Islands. Private luxury tourist boats are operating from Phoenix bay jetty, Port Blair to Havelock and back during season, cutting down travel time considerably.
INTER-ISLAND CONNECTIVITY – BY AIR
Daily helicopter services are available from Port Blair to other inter-island tourist destinations, such as Neil, Havelock, Diglipur, Hutbay etc.