The 37 Wing Air Force Station at Car Nicobar has an area of . The bitumen runway was built by the Japanese during their occupation of these islands between 1942–45. 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 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.