Kangra Airport

Kangra-Gaggal Airport, officially known as Kangra Airport, is a domestic airport serving areas of Kangra including Dharamshala, the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is located at Gaggal, which is situated 12 km from the city, 8 km from Kangra and 14 km from Kangra Railway Station. The airport is located on National Highway 154, that runs between Pathankot and Mandi, and is the largest airport in Himachal Pradesh in terms of passengers and aircraft movement, handling over 200,000 passengers and over 4,200 aircraft in FY 2023-24.

History
The foundation of Kangra Airport was laid down by Virbhadra Singh, the then Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, on 15 October 1986. The first scheduled operation at this airport was by Vayudoot with a Dornier 228 in the 1990. Subsequently, other airlines like Jagson, Air Deccan and Kingfisher also operated from the airport. In 2001, the airport was renamed as Kangra Airport. In March 2007, the runway was extended from 3000 to 4500 ft and a new terminal building was inaugurated. As a result, for the first time an ATR-42 aircraft of Air Deccan landed at the airport on 28 March 2007. Following this, other airlines also started operating on this route, with SpiceJet and Alliance Air starting from 2013. As of April 2024, three airlines operate regularly to and from the airport–Alliance Air, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

Structure
The airport, spread over 1269 acre at an altitude of 2492 ft has one asphalt runway, oriented 15/33, 1372 by. Its 300 by apron provides parking space for two turboprop aircraft, like the ATR 72, and Dash 8 Series 400, while its terminal building can handle 100 passengers, 50 in the arrival area and 50 in the departure area. Due to its shorter runway as well as high altitude, the airport has a load penalty and aircraft at this airport are not allowed to take-off with full capacity, leading to under-utilization and higher airfares on this route.

Navigational aids include precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights and VHF omnidirectional range (DVOR). The DVOR was installed in 2016, which reduced the minimum runway visibility requirement for aircraft landing at the airport from 5,000 to 2,400 m. The airport falls in Category II(c) of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards due to limited instrument landing system (ILS) capabilities.

Expansion plans and delays
In October 2013, for first time, the issue of expansion of Kangra Airport came up officially, when Ministry of Civil Aviation hinted at expanding Gaggal Airport and conducting a fresh survey for expansion of the airport. In August 2014, the District Administration was ordered to carry out the expansion survey and wrote to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in this regard. Following this, a team of AAI Officials visited the airport in May 2015 for feasibility study and identification of land required.

In 2019, the team visited the adjacent area of the airport and identified the land for expanding the runway from 1,370 to 1,920 m. However, this proposed expansion would require total of 140 ha and would mean displacement of almost all of the Gaggal Township which is located about 2 km from the Airport and lies directly in the proposed path of airstrip expansion. As a result, in January and February 2020, there were demonstrations by the locals against the government.

In March 2021, an Obstruction Level Survey (OLS) for proposed expansion was carried out by AAI. In the revised survey of AAI, the length of runway was to be expanded to 1900 m, by first constructing a bridge over the Manjhi River, which flows in between the Gaggal township and the airport. Thereafter, the runway is to be expanded to 3010 m by acquiring the land beyond Gaggal township, cutting through National Highway 154, which would also require the realignment of the highway. A total of Rs 400 Crores were recommended by the Fifteenth Finance Commission for the expansion of Kangra Airport, which have been granted by the Central Government. In March 2022, AAI came up with a two phase expansion plan for Kangra Airport.


 * In Phase 1, the runway is to be expanded by around 600 m, from current 1372 to 1900 m, which would require construction of a runway bridge over the Manjhi River, just short of Gaggal township. If first phase is completed, it will help turboprop airplanes in taking off and landing at the Gaggal airport with full capacity without load penalty.
 * In Phase 2, the runway is to be increased by 1110 m, taking the increased length of runway from 1900 to 3010 m. This expansion will enable narrow bodied turbofan aircraft like Airbus-320/330 and Boeing 737 to easily operate from this airport. This would not only provide a major boost to the tourism sector for Kangra district, but would also serve Chamba, Hamirpur and Una districts.

In November 2022, CWPRS, Pune was consulted to study the feasibility of constructing runway bridge over Manjhi River, which gave its nod in this regard in a report submitted to state Government in February 2023. Meanwhile, after State Assembly elections and formation of new Government in December 2022, Kangra District was identified to be developed as Tourism Capital of the state. Consequently, the expansion of Kangra Airport got a new impetus. Further, it was also decided to complete the land acquisition process for both phases simultaneously. In this regard, in March 2023, the Social Impact Assessment of the expansion project was ordered by the Government to be carried by Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration(HIPA). In order to complete the land acquisition proceedings and start the expansion work as soon as possible, the State Government in Budget 2023-24 allocated Rs 2000 Crore for this purpose. In April 2023, under the provisions of Land Acquisition Act-2013, an Expert Appraisal Committee(EAC) was constituted under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner(Relief and Rehabilitation), Raja ka Talab, to study the SIA report. The EAC will submit its recommendations to Government regarding the relief and compensation to be provided to the displaced population in the expansion project. In May 2023 the EAC in its meeting discussed the various issues regarding expansion of Airport and also sought Techno-feasibility report as well as Environment Impact Assessment report from the Government. In June 2023, in a Cabinet meeting, the State Government gave approval for land acquisition in this regard. In July 2023, the Notification to acquire the said land was issued by Government under Section 11 of Land Acquisition Act-2013.

Proposed expansion plans
In 2021, three expansion plans were drawn out. Of them, the following Plan was finalized and revenue department was accordingly tasked to carry out the surveys and prepare report on the total additional land to be acquired. A total of 147.7587 hectares of land is being affected under the expansion of the airport in 14 villages of Shahpur and Kangra tehsil of district Kangra, out of which 25.1064 hectares (16.99 percent) of land is government land, remaining (83.02 percent) 122.6623 hectares of land belongs to private farmers. The expansion project will cause displacement of around 1446 families.