Pakyong Airport is the only airport in Sikkim. It is located about 30 kilometres from Gangtok. When it was opened for commercial operation in 2018, it was thought to help travellers big time by reducing the travelling time to reach Gangtok by 3-4 hours. Before that only other way to reach Gangtok by flight was to take a flight to Bagdogra Airport in West Bengal and then take a taxi to Gangtok. Gangtok is about 130 kilometres from Bagdogra Airport and takes 4 – 6 hours to reach there.
SpiceJet airline won the exclusive rights for Delhi – Pakyong and Kolkata – Pakyong sectors under Government’s UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme. Currently, SpiceJet operates a daily flight on these sectors.
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Why You May Want To Fly To/From Pakyong Airport
- Pakyong Airport is located at a high altitude which makes it one of the most scenic airports in India.
- Reduced travel time to reach Gangtok.
- Reduced taxi fare to reach Gangtok.
- The temptation to explore a newer airport.
- Spicejet operates smaller aircraft (Q400) having reduced seating capacity on this sector. One may want to experience travelling in a smaller plane if not done before.
Why You Should Avoid Flying To/From Pakyong Airport
- Only one flight each day on Delhi – Pakyong – Delhi and Kolkata – Payong – Delhi route. If that flight is cancelled, you don’t have any alternative flight until the next day.
- The airport is designed as Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Airport. That means flights can only operate in clear and nice weather conditions. If it rains or the weather is foggy as it is common at a hill station, the flight is either cancelled or the airport is changed to Bagdogra Airport. That means additional taxi charges from Bagdogra Airport to Gangtok.
Our Experience
We were to go to Sikkim for 11 days and had booked the SpiceJet flight for Delhi – Pakyong – Delhi route. Our trip was to start from Pelling and end at Gangtok. So, we had planned to take a taxi from Pakyong airport to Pelling on the first day and Gangtok to Pakyong airport on the last day.
We could have arrived at either Bagdogra or Pakyong, it would have taken a similar time to reach Pelling. But the real cost and time saving was on the last day when we had to cover only 30 kilometres from the hotel in Gangtok to Pakyong Airport.
Got a shock on the day before the flight to Pakyong
We had made the booking with our taxi operator (Santosh) on a price on the basis that arrival and departure in Sikkim are at Pakyong Airport.
We got a rude shock from SpiceJet a day before our scheduled flight to Pakyong informing us that the airport has been changed from Pakyong Airport to Bagdogra Airport due to bad weather conditions. We panicked for a bit thinking about whether the driver would even agree to pick us up from Bagdogra Airport. Even if he agrees, would he charge an exorbitant price to take advantage of the situation?
We contacted Santosh and he agreed to pick us up from Bagdogra Airport at an additional nominal charge of INR 1000.
We had made all our taxi bookings through driver Santosh who also had a small taxi company. Had we booked the package through a big travel company, we would have surely been charged at least INR 3000.
Apart from this additional charge, the change of airport did not have much impact on our plan. Anyway, we were to go to Pelling straight from the airport that was equidistant from both airports.
Got another shock on the day before the flight to Delhi
We got a message from SpiceJet again a day before our scheduled flight to Delhi that the airport has been changed from Pakyong Airport to Bagdogra Airport due to bad weather conditions. This time, it was a problem. Our plan went haywire big time.
While we were earlier supposed to travel only 30 kilometres to board the 2 PM flight, now we had to travel 130 kilometres instead to board the 1:30 PM flight. That means, leaving the hotel early morning to keep extra time aside for any traffic jams due to rain or landslide.
And we had been seeing unfavourable weather conditions throughout our 11-day trip sans a couple of days.
We again contacted Santosh and he agreed to drop us at Bagdogra Airport for an extra INR 1000. We decided to leave at 6 AM as it was raining heavily for a few hours and we were scared that we might miss the flight if we leave late.
It is always better to reach early than late.
When we mentioned about the airport change to the hotel manager, he mentioned that it is very common at Pakyong Airport and flights hardly arrive at or depart from Pakyong Airport for only 60 – 70 days a year.
We left sharp at 6 AM and prepared to skip breakfast if the need arose. Thankfully, there was no rain or landslide on the way and we reached the airport way ahead of time.
Both times SpiceJet informed us about the airport change 12 hours before the scheduled departure thereby making them not liable for any monetary compensation. But it was passengers like us who had to suffer both financially and mentally.
What If We Hadn’t Booked Flight To/From Pakyong Airport
We would have booked the flight to/from Bagdogra Airport. As multiple flights operate there, we would have chosen an evening flight from Bagdogra Airport to give us ample time to reach the airport from Gangtok.
As Santosh was very cooperative, we didn’t have to pay undue taxi charges for the last-minute request but had we booked a flight to/from Bagdogra airport, we would have paid around INR 500 per person less for each flight.
Most importantly, it would have given us peace of mind. We would not have had to worry about reaching Pelling or home on time till the last minute.
Have you ever booked a flight to a new airport and regretted later? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.
Please give me the phone number and details of Santosh. Thank you
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