Uttarakhand's Naini Saini airport, 50 kms from China's border, gets DGCA nod; here's a look at its history

The remote, mountainous region of Uttarakhand can now be connected to the rest of the nation by air thanks to the opening of the Naini Saini airport in Pithoragarh, which is located 50 kilometres from the Chinese border. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which now oversees the airport, has granted the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority an aerodrome license for it.

Confirming the news, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "It is a major boost for air connectivity in Uttarakhand, especially in the Kumaon region. We want to thank PM Narendra Modi and the civil aviation ministry."

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The Uttarakhand cabinet had already approved giving the Indian Air Force control of the strategically located Naini Saini airport while allowing commercial flights to continue from there.

The state civil aviation department currently runs the airport, which was built in 1991 for administrative usage.

The state-owned Pawan Hans heli services now use the 1,508-meter-long airstrip primarily for helicopter landings and takeoffs, which don't occur frequently. 

Due to technical difficulties, a nine-seater commercial aeroplane service that had begun at the airport in January 2019 was terminated in March 2020.

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There are two main airports in Uttarakhand, with flight service to several cities from Jolly Grant in Dehradun, which is in the state's Garhwal region. A less busy one, Pantnagar Airport in Udham Singh Nagar, serves the Kumaon region and has daily flights to Delhi and to Jaipur via Ahmedabad.