Pakyong Airport

Pakyong Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of India
OperatorAirports Authority of India
ServesGangtok
LocationPakyong, Pakyong District, Sikkim, India
Opened24 September 2018; 5 years ago (2018-09-24)
Time zoneIndian Standard Time (+5:30)
Elevation AMSL1,416 m / 4,646 ft
Coordinates27°13′57″N 88°35′18″E / 27.23250°N 88.58833°E / 27.23250; 88.58833
Map
PYG is located in Sikkim
PYG
PYG
Location in Sikkim
PYG is located in India
PYG
PYG
PYG (India)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
02/20 1,700 5,577 Concrete
Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024)
Passengers8,417 (Decrease 46.4%)
Aircraft movements170 (Decrease 47.5%)
Cargo tonnage—
Source: AAI[1][2][3]

Pakyong Airport (IATA: PYG, ICAO: VEPY) is a non-operational domestic airport near Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, India.[4]

Spread over 201 acres (81 ha), the airport is located at Pakyong, about 31 km (22 mi) south of Gangtok.[5] At 4,646 ft, Pakyong Airport is one of the five highest airports in India.[6] It is also the first greenfield airport constructed in the Northeast India,[7] the 100th operational airport in India, and the only airport in the state of Sikkim.[8][9]

Inaugurated on 24 September 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,[10] commercial flight operations started 4 October 2018.[11] Upon its opening, major media across the globe praised its engineering and described it as one of the most scenic airports in the world.[12] However, commercial flights have been disrupted due to known weather conditions, being originally planned and designed as a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Airport. Due to these visibility issues along with agitation from the local villagers who were displaced and strip area issues, the airport's only commercial passenger airline SpiceJet temporarily suspended flight operations to the airport effective 1 June 2019. After a suspension of 19 months, flight operations by SpiceJet resumed on 23 January 2021, following the establishment of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) approaches.[13][14] There are no current flights from Pakyong.[15]

  1. ^ "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Sikkim to have 100th functional airport in India". 2 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Wait for Sikkim air link". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Sikkim's Greenfield Airport". Punjlloyd. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Sikkim's Pakyong airport stuns before it flies". 24 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Sikkim to get its first airport at Pakyong". The Indian Express. 17 November 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Pakyong airport in Sikkim to become the 100th functional airport in India: Jayant Sinha". The Financial Express. Press Trust of India. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  10. ^ "PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Sikkim's Pakyong airport". The Economic Times. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Sikkim's Pakyong Airport welcomes first commercial flight in state with water cannon salute". First Post. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  12. ^ Hiufu Wong, Maggie (25 September 2018). "India's new Pakyong Airport opens in incredible Himalayan surroundings". CNN. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Trial touchdown successful at Sikkim airport". The Times of India. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Airline operations at Sikkim's Pakyong airport resume after 19 months". All India Radio. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  15. ^ https://corporate.spicejet.com/schedules.aspx [bare URL]