Pantnagar Airport is a domestic airport serving

Pantnagar Pantnagar is a town and a university campus in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand. Nainital, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Kiccha, Haldwani are the major cities surrounding Pantnagar. The town is home to the first agricultural university of I ...

, located in

Udham Singh Nagar district Udham Singh Nagar District (officially District of Udham Singh Nagar )is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. Rudrapur is the district headquarters. This district consists of nine Tehsils named Bajpur, Gadarpur, Rudrapur, Jaspur ...

in of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, India. It is operated by the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...

. It is the nearest airport to the

Kumaon division Kumaon (; Kumaoni: ''Kumāū''; ; historically romanized as KemāonJames Prinsep (Editor)John McClelland ) is a revenue and administrative division in the Indian State of Uttarakhand. It spans over the eastern half of the state and is bounded ...

and is located in the middle of

Haldwani Haldwani (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Haldvānī'') is the largest city of Kumaon division, Kumaon. It is also the third List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city and largest commercial market in the Indian state of Uttarak ...

and Rudrapur, the two largest cities of Kumaon. It is only (26 km) from

City. Kumaon hill stations of

Nainital Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters o ...

(65 km),

Bhimtal Bhimtal ( Kumaoni: ''Bhīmtāl'') is a town and a nagar panchayat, near Nainital city in Nainital district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is situated at an altitude of 1370 meters above sea level and is about 22 kilometers from Nainita ...

(50 km),

Ranikhet Ranikhet (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ) is a hill station and cantonment town, nearby Almora, Almora Town in Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the home for the Military Hospital, Kumaon Regiment (KRC) and Naga Regiment and ...

(110 km) and

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ''Almāḍ'') is a municipal board and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

(120 km),

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

(65 km) and the

Jim Corbett National Park Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named ''Hailey National Park'' after Willia ...

(120 km) are also nearby.

History

The airport was able to accommodate only small aircraft until 2008, when the length of the runway was increased to 4,500 feet to accommodate larger

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

aircraft at a cost of ₹75 crores. The

Government of Uttarakhand The Government of Uttarakhand also known as the State Government of Uttarakhand, or locally as State Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttarakhand and its 13 Districts. It consists of an executive branch, led ...

had offered a subsidy to Jagson Airlines between 2005 and 2008, to undertake daily scheduled flights between Pantnagar and

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New De ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. The annual subsidy was not renewed in 2008 when the runway length was increased. The government then invited

Deccan Aviation Deccan Charters is an aviation company based in Bengaluru, India that operates helicopter and fixed-wing charter services. Its main base is HAL Bangalore International Airport. Deccan Technical Services, the maintenance unit of Deccan Charte ...

to fly on the Delhi – Pantnagar route.

Kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. ...

, which took over Deccan Aviation, undertook seasonal flights to Pantnagar as poor weather did not allow it to fly around the year. The airport had been without a commercial service ever since Kingfisher ceased operations. Pantnagar Airport now has daily Alliance Air flights to and from IGI, Delhi (since 1 October 2014), and an Air Heritage flight for Pithoragarh. In August 2015, the Airport Advisory Committee said that the airport will be developed in cargo hub and the length of the runway would be increased from its present length of 1,372m to 1,865m.Pantnagar airport to be developed as cargo hub
/ref> The airport has had a facility of meteorological services by the

India Meteorological Department The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. IMD is headquarter ...

since its inception.

Airlines and destinations

References

Pantnagar Airports in Uttarakhand Airports with year of establishment missing {{India-airport-stub

History

Airlines and destinations

See also

References