PAKYONG AIRPORT
Pakyong airport is 100th functional greenfield airport in India in the State of Sikkim spread over area of 990 acres. Pakyong airport is about 35 kilometres from Gangtok the capital city of Sikkim. The airport is one of the 5th highest airports in India .
Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport comes in the first place located in Leh, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its very much fortunate history for the people of Sikkim and those who love Sikkim and wants to see Sikkim to have its functional airport as before Bagdogra airport was the nearest airport of Sikkim.
The historical good news was tweeted by Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on month of May
“The Pakyong (Gangtok) Airport at Sikkim got license today for scheduled operations. It’s an engineering marvel at a height of more than 4,500 ft in a tough terrain. Will pave way for direct air connectivity to our lovely state of Sikkim, giving boost to tourism & economic growth.“
Milestones Pakyong Airport Sikkim
The airport got its approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on October 2008 and foundation stone was laid by the then Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel
on February 2009, The construction work was carried out by Airport Authority of India (AAI) and was
Initially completed
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on 2012.But due to some public opposition regarding the proper rehabilitation and compensation the work was Initially Suspended on January 2014. The authority somehow convinced the people by providing them with certain compensation and the work started again on October 2014.
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| PAKYONG AIRPORT IMAGE TOP VIEW |
But again the construction had to be stopped January 2015 due to the protests regarding compensation it took nearly ten months to sort out the problem and work started again October 2015 after the signing of MoU between the airport Authority of India (AAI) and the state government. The initial project costs was 3,090 million but due to protest and work suspension it escalated to 6,050 million. Maximally ecological slope-stabilization techniques were used As the construction land was landslide prone area.
IMPORTANCE OF PAKYONG AIRPORT
Pakyong Airport is strategically significant as its apprximately at distance of 60km from Indo-China Border where Indian Airforce can be landed in the time of national emergencies.
FIRST FLIGHT :
Indian Airforce (IAF) Dornier 228 successfully landed at the airport and on 10th march 2018 commercial aircraft Spicejet also made its footprints on the airport and the airport
got its operational licence on 5th may 2018 and will be inaugurated by the Narendra Modi the Prime minister of India.
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| ROUTE TO PAKYONG AIRPORT FROM GANGTOK |
PAKYONG AIRPORT AND TIMINGS :
Departure from Calcutta : 9:30 AM
Arrival at Pakyong : 10:55 AM
Departure at Pakyong : 11:15 AM
Arrival at Calcutta : 12.45 PM
FROM : 16th October 2018 :
Departure at Pakyong : 2:50 PM
Arrival at Calcutta : 4:20 PM
Introductory Fare (one way): Rs 2,600