Dharamshala, the tourism capital of Himachal Pradesh and an aspiring IT city, is not connected to Bengaluru, Mumbai and other major cities of India.

Gaggal airport connects Kangra / Dharamshala region with Chandigarh, Shimla and Delhi via direct flights operated by Alliance Air, Indigo, and Spicejet. This is the only airport in Himachal Pradesh which has an expansion plan to finally operate bigger aircrafts like Airbus A320. Runway is planned to be expanded to 1900m from 1372m in Phase 1, and then finally to 3010m in phase 2. Right now, even the smaller ATR-72 aircrafts can land with ~70% of its passenger capacity. This constraints increases the ticket prices for the consumers.

The project was going on a fast track and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) plan was in motion till Nov 2023, it has hit some roadblocks since then.

News came out on 9th Dec, 2023 stating "Shimla: The Tourism Department has rejected the techno-economic feasibility report prepared for the expansion of Kangra’s Gaggal Airport. It was created by WAPCOS, an agency of the Government of India."

Jan 22, 2024 Supreme Court suspends Himachal HC order given on Jan 9, 2024 staying Gaggal airport expansion

Feb 16, 2024 Gaggal Airport Expansion Affected Society Welfare Committee’s objections on Gaggal airport expansion untenable: Kangra tourism department

A local body is opposing the R&R package saying "People should not beg for 6 marla land and Rs 1.5 lakh like Indra Awas Yojana, every adult member of the family should get 10 marla land and four times compensation."

There are around 1500 families who are going to be displaced as part of this expansion project. Some of these families have faced displacement earlier also due to Pong Dam project and others.

We request Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and Hon'ble Minister of Civil Aviation to look into the matter with due sensitivity to the affected families and arrive at a just R&R package quickly. While majority of Indian citizens want this project, it is important to resettle the affected families in a just manner.

The completion of this project will pave a way to launch direct flights to Dharamshala from Bengaluru, Mumbai and other major cities.