Srinagar International Airport , officially named as Sheikh Ul Alam International Airport, is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

serving

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

, the

summer capital A summer capital is a city used as an administrative capital during extended periods of particularly hot summer weather. The term is mostly of relevance in historical contexts of political systems with ruling classes that would migrate to a summ ...

of the Indian

union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. It is owned by the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

, and the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civi ...

operates a

civil enclave A joint-use airport is an aerodrome that is used for both military aviation and civil aviation. They typically contain facilities of both a civil airport and a military air base. By country India Visakhapatnam Airport operates as a civil enclav ...

at the airport. The airport is located in

Budgam Budgam (), known as Badgom (; ) in Kashmiri, is a town in Budgam district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. In the 2001 census, it was recorded as having a notified area committee,This gives the population of Budgam adga ...

, about south of Srinagar. It was designated as an international airport in 2005. It has an integrated domestic and international terminal with one

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

runway.

History

Srinagar airfield was established by the

. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, the airport received an

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of Materiel, supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material lo ...

Indian army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

troops to prevent the

Pakistan army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

from capturing

. Although the airport was small and lacked landing aids, the airlift was still carried out successfully on 27 October 1947. In September 1965, the Srinagar Airport was subjected to an air raid amid the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, which left some aircraft damaged. During the 1950s to 1970s, Srinagar Airfield evolved into one of the most critical frontline bases of the Indian Air Force. It housed multiple fighter squadrons at various times, including Vampires, Gnats, and Hunters, serving as a launchpad for combat air patrols and counter-air missions during the Indo-Pakistani conflicts. The base saw intense activity during the 1965 and 1971 wars, including intercepts, close air support, and the deployment of radar-guided air defence. Srinagar’s proximity to the Line of Control made it a vital asset in both deterrence and wartime operations. In 1979, the

established a

at the airport. The terminal was modified in February 1998 to be able to handle international

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

flights, which started operating from January 2002. During the

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

in 1999, the airport was taken over completely by the Air Force, and civilian flights were stopped. In March 2005, the airport was granted international status by the Indian government. In 2015, the state government renamed the airport as Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport after Sheikh-ul-Alam, the revered

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, the language of the Kashmiris ethnic group People with the nam ...

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

saint. In 2020, the BJP proposed that the airport be named after Major

Somnath Sharma Somnath Sharma, Param Vir Chakra, PVC (31 January 1923 – 3 November 1947), was an Indian military officer and the first recipient of India's highest military decoration, Param Vir Chakra (PVC), which he was awarded posthumously. Sharma was ...

, the first recipient of India's highest military decoration,

Param Vir Chakra The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is India's highest Awards and Decorations of the Indian Armed Forces, military decoration, awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime. Param Vir Chakra translates roughly as the "Wheel of Supre ...

Infrastructure

Terminal

The airport has an integrated terminal, handling both domestic and international flights. It covers and can serve 950 passengers at a time. The terminal is designed on the Himalayan theme and has a sloping roof to facilitate easier removal of snow. The terminal was constructed as a part of a larger expansion project at a cost of , initiated by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, and was inaugurated on 14 February 2009. There are nine parking bays, with five connected by

aerobridges A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

to the terminal. In 2019, the authorities planned to construct a new

airport terminal An airport terminal is a main building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft. The buildings that provide access t ...

handling only

international flight An international flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the Takeoff, departure and the arrival take place in different Country, countries. Regular international passenger air service began in August 1919 with a flight ...

s , with domestic flights operating from the older terminal. In September 2021, the Aviation Minister announced that the existing terminal will be expanded from the present to at a cost of . Other amenities include a food court, food outlets,

handicraft A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

shops, ATMs, currency exchanges, and

WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

Runway

There is a single

runway, 13/31, with dimensions . It has been equipped with an instrument landing system since February 2011. In August 2018, a test flight was conducted for night landing by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. On 19 March 2021, commercial night flying operations at the airport started.

Airlines and destinations

In February 2009,

Air India Express Air India Express is an India, Indian low-cost airline and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India. It is headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. The airline operates more than 2000 flights per week to 45 destinations across India, the Middle ...

started weekly flights to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, the first regularly scheduled international flight from Srinagar. However, due to low demand from passengers, the flights were terminated in January 2010.

Access

The airport is located about from the city of Srinagar.

Vehicle

There is a

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

with 250 spaces. The airport is also served by taxis and car rental agencies, which have their booths outside the terminal. Prepaid Taxi services are also available just outside the Srinagar airport arrival.

Bus Service

The government provides a paid bus service between the airport and the tourist reception center near

Lal Chowk Lal Chowk () is a city square in Srinagar, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The square was given its name by left-wing activists who were inspired by the Russian Revolution as they fought the princely stateMaharaja, Hari Si ...

, while the Airports Authority of India operates a free bus service between the terminal and the airport entrance gate away.

Statistics

Passenger Numbers

Notable accidents and incidents

On 7 September 1965, amid the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, four fighter jets of the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

attacked the Srinagar airport. An Indian Air Force

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...

and an

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international servic ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

were destroyed during the air raid. A ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' article published the following day reported that one Indian aircraft and a

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

transport of the United Nations observers headquarters were damaged.

References

External links

{{Indian Air Force Transport in Srinagar Buildings and structures in Srinagar Airports in Jammu and Kashmir