From next month, you can finally fly straight to Sikkim when the Pakyong Airport near Gangtok comes into service. Budget carrier SpiceJet will operate the first flight from Pakyong airport with a flight from Kolkata on 4 October. At the moment, one has to fly to Bagdogra airport in West Bengal to reach Gangtok, which is a 123-km, four and a half-hour drive away. Pakyong is just 30km from Gangtok, meaning you can save almost an entire day of travel.
Flights to Gangtok
The SpiceJet flight will operate on Bombardier Q400 turboprop jet, and will depart Kolkata at 9.30am, arriving in Pakyong at 10.55am. Till 15 October, the flight will leave Pakyong at 11.15am and reach Calcutta at 12.45pm. Thereafter, it will connect onward to Guwahati. The inaugural fare for the Kolkata-Gangtok flight has been fixed at Rs2,600.
Pakyong will also see international flights from January, when Druk Air will start flights to Paro, Bhutan.
Sikkim's new airport is a bit of a feat, built into the mountains at 4,500ft. The airport received all security clearances earlier this year after a successful test flight conducted by SpiceJet.
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