Sikkim Debuts On India’s Aviation Map, State’s First Airport Opens With SpiceJet’s Kolkata-Pakyong Flight

Sikkim’s newly-constructed airport, the Himalayan state’s first, will become operational today. SpiceJet will begin commercial flights between Kolkata and Pakyong today under the Narendra Modi government’s regional connectivity scheme ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik’, The Hindu Business Line reported.

On 11 March, a SpiceJet test flight landed at the airport for the first time. A 19-seater Dornier 228 aircraft of the Indian Air Force had made a successful landing at the airport in Sikkim on 6 March this year.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 24 September, the airport is located about 30 km away from the state capital of Gangtok. It has been built at an elevation of about 4,700 feet at an estimated cost of Rs 350 crore.

It is spread over an area of 25,000 square feet and is equipped to handle 100 passengers, 50 each in arrival and departure areas. The runway of the airport is around 1.7 kilometres long and 30 metres wide.

The airport will boost Sikkim’s economy by making the state more accessible for tourists. Currently, tourists headed for Gangtok by air have to fly to Bagdogra and travel 128 km by road to reach the state capital.