Tourists can’t fly to Sikkim as SpiceJet halts the only 2 flights to Pakyong Airport

As one of India’s emerging tourist destinations, Sikkim witnessed a surge in the number of visitors as more than three lakh people visited the state in six months from October 2021. Reaching the kingdom in the hills was quite a hassle before the state got its own airport in 2018, because the closes airport was 124 kilometres away in Bagdogra, West Bengal. All that changed when the Pakyong Airport provided air connectivity to Sikkim, but now the only airline flying to the airstrip has suspended flights to the North Eastern state.

Struggling to continue operations?

After being restricted from operating beyond 50 per cent capacity till October by India’s aviation regulator DGCA, SpiceJet has stopped flying to Sikkim citing operational constraints. The airline was the only one offering connectivity to the state’s Pakyong Airport, since it was unveiled four years back. Now that there are no flights to the region, tourists will have to travel five hours by road as holiday season approaches.

Tourists face tough times in holiday season

Travellers already got a glimpse of the woes that await them a week back, when 500 of them were stuck for eight hours on highways in different parts of Sikkim due to heavy rains. The Pakyong Airport launched by Prime Minister Modi was close to the capital Gangtok, and just 60 kilometres from the Indo-China border. The airport had become operational after almost a decade of construction that had been going on since 2009.

Temporary disruption due to erratic climate

The SpiceJet flights from Delhi and Kolkata, which are the only two landing at Pakyong, have been suspended temporarily, considering lack of visibility and rough weather during winter. Repeated cancellation of flights to the destination at an altitude of 4500 feet during monsoons had already caused losses for SpiceJet.

Apart from financial losses, SpiceJet may also face scrutiny over an emergency landing caused by smoke filling up the cabin. Since the beginning of the year, the flight has suffered turbulence on multiple occasions, and two of its aircraft almost crashed into each other in mid air.