Flight services resume at Sikkim's Pakyong airport

Flight services at the Pakyong airport in Sikkim resumed on Tuesday as a Spicejet plane took off for Delhi, officials said. The flight services at the table-top airport were suspended in October last year due to operational difficulties, they said.

The suspension of services inconvenienced people of the state, besides adversely affecting the tourism industry of Sikkim, they added.

The Spicejet flight landed at the Pakyong airport with 12 passengers and then, took off for Delhi with 43 passengers.

Regular flight services will start on March 26 with a daily flight to Delhi for now, officials said.

Before suspending its operations, SpiceJet used to operate daily flights to Delhi and Kolkata from Pakyong.

Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang had earlier written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for resuming flight services.

Pakyong airport is located at a distance of 26.8 km from state capital Gangtok. The busy Bagdogra airport in West Bengal's Siliguri is around 123 km from Gangtok.