Filed Under · Unofficial
Airports Awaiting Flights
Terminals inaugurated with a ribbon and a photograph, then left to wait for the airlines. Conveyor belts kept running on optimism alone.
Ranked by Notoriety
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Rourkela Airport: Connectivity Blackout
Air services to Rourkela (home to NIT Rourkela, a Smart City, and the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium) were launched for the 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup but subsequently suspended, leaving the "Smart City" without air connectivity for months. Local leaders and institutions publicly protested the negligence, and as of the Ministry's December 2025 Rajya Sabha disclosure, Rourkela remained on the list of UDAN airports with zero scheduled flights.
Jaisalmer Airport: Six Months Idle, Every Year
A modern ₹80-crore terminal was built at this desert-tourism airport, but for years it sat almost entirely idle: SpiceJet withdrew flights for lack of demand and GoAir/IndiGo declined to start any, leaving conveyor belts gathering dust with zero scheduled commercial traffic through much of the 2010s. Even after traffic finally picked up (2.4 lakh passengers in the 2025-26 winter season), the airport still closes every year for roughly six months, most recently from March 29, 2026, stranding tourism operators each time.
Durgapur (Kazi Nazrul Islam) Airport: Underuse
Opened May 18, 2015 by private developer Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd at a cost of roughly ₹1,000 crore, the airport saw two of its three launch carriers, Pinnacle Air and Spirit Airways, collapse within months from lack of demand, since nearby trains and buses proved cheaper and equally fast. Even Air India's surviving Kolkata route ran at only 30-35% occupancy (about 15 passengers/day), forcing fare cuts from ₹2,500 to ₹999 to attract any traffic.
Noida International Airport (Jewar): Repeated Delays
Originally targeted to open by September 2024 as "Asia's largest" greenfield airport, the project has missed at least three publicly announced launch deadlines, sliding into 2026 with officials still coordinating pending Bureau of Civil Aviation Security clearance and final DGCA certification as of January 2026. Multiple terminal buildings and supporting infrastructure remained at different stages of completion even as new dates were repeatedly floated and missed.
Kushinagar International Airport: Ghost Terminal
Inaugurated by PM Modi in October 2021 with an international flight from Sri Lanka and pitched as a Buddhist-circuit gateway, the airport peaked at 54 scheduled flights in March 2022 before traffic collapsed. Its last scheduled commercial flight was on November 4, 2023, and per AAI data no scheduled flights were recorded through 2024 and 2025, even as annual upkeep costs rose from ₹1.35 crore to ₹3.42 crore. Its only recent activity was around 50 non-scheduled charter flights in November 2025 for funeral/religious purposes.
Akola Airport: Runway Too Short for Scheduled Flights
Originally built by the Public Works Department in 1943, the airstrip was modernized in 2008 with a new terminal, yet it currently has no scheduled public airline services at all. Past attempts by Vayudoot and Span Aviation to run services here ended, and the runway remains too short (needing extension to 1,800m) to attract carriers even under UDAN.
Pathankot Airport: Subsidy Ended, Flights Never Resumed
A civil enclave was carved out of the Pathankot Air Force Station and Alliance Air began Delhi-Pathankot flights in April 2018 under UDAN, but the airline pulled out when its three-year Viability Gap Funding contract ended in April 2021. No carrier has resumed commercial service since, and in December 2025 the Civil Aviation Ministry listed Pathankot among 15 UDAN airports nationwide with zero flight operations.
Amritsar International Airport: Storm Ceiling Collapse
On the night of April 19, 2018, a thunderstorm with high-velocity winds and morning rain caused extensive structural damage to the international airport's main terminal building: the false ceiling collapsed in multiple areas of the main hall, air-pressure imbalances damaged the arrival area near the VIP lounge and immigration section, and glass windows shattered at the restaurant, front gate, and entry gate. No injuries or financial loss to passengers were reported, and airport authorities began repair work immediately afterward.
Kalaburagi Airport: Idle Runway
Inaugurated on November 22, 2019 under the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme with just three weekly flights to Bengaluru, the airport built on a 742-acre site subsequently lost even that thin service. The Ministry of Civil Aviation's December 2025 disclosure to the Rajya Sabha listed Kalaburagi among 15 UDAN airports nationwide with zero scheduled flight operations.
Pakyong Airport: Flight Suspension
Built as the Northeast's first greenfield hill airport and inaugurated by PM Modi in 2018 as an engineering showpiece, Pakyong has repeatedly gone dark on scheduled commercial service. The Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed to Parliament that no scheduled flights operated from the airport since June 2024, with an MP describing it as "totally non-operational" since May 2024, despite the runway remaining licensed.
Bathinda Airport: Chronic Underuse
The ₹25-crore civil terminal was inaugurated in December 2016 for a UDAN-scheme Delhi route that ran with over 90% occupancy, yet commercial operations were completely suspended for more than three years from 2020 to September 2023. Service has never stabilized since: a Ghaziabad route added in 2023 was itself suspended in September 2025 after the operating airline was acquired by another carrier, leaving the ₹25-crore terminal running a reduced, uncertain schedule.
Navi Mumbai International Airport
First conceived in the 1990s when Mumbai's existing airport was projected to hit capacity by 2010, and formally targeted for completion by 2024 after PM Modi laid the foundation stone in 2018, the project slipped roughly three decades from initial conception to inauguration on October 8, 2025, with commercial operations only beginning in December 2025. Ownership changed hands mid-project (GVK consortium to Adani Group in 2020) and the cost escalated substantially, including a reported 50% Phase 1 cost jump in 2018 alone, amid prolonged land acquisition and rehabilitation disputes with project-affected villagers.
Cooch Behar Airport: Service Collapse
After a closure of over 25 years, Cooch Behar Airport resumed commercial service in February 2023 with IndiaOne Air's nine-seater flights to Kolkata under the UDAN scheme, contracted to run three years until 2026. The operator instead unilaterally notified authorities it would stop flying from February 1, 2026, barely two years in, abruptly ending the route again and triggering a political blame row between the BJP and Trinamool Congress over funding responsibility.
Shimla Jubbarhatti Airport: Runway Shortfall
Perched at 2,196 metres and flanked by gorges, Shimla's table-top runway is roughly 300 metres short of the 1,500-metre length aviation experts say is the safe minimum, restricting it to small aircraft and non-scheduled flights. Runway expansion has been stalled for years by disputes over adjoining forest land and private property, and in December 2025 the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed Shimla as one of 15 UDAN airports nationwide with no scheduled flight operations.