On record
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.
The official record states: "SpiceJet, the sole UDAN operator on the Delhi-Kushinagar route, "stopped services due to aircraft shortages"; Air India Express has since expressed intent to launch a new Delhi-Kushinagar service targeted for March 2026."
“Opened with an international flight, peaked at 54 a month, and now waits for the Buddhist circuit to reroute.”— Blunderlust Editorial Desk
Sources
- https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/no-commercial-flights-since-nov-2023-how-kushinagar-airport-took-off-then-fell-silent-511776-2026-01-20
- https://www.etvbharat.com/en/!state/a-ghost-international-airport-without-flights-in-uttar-pradesh-nearly-4-years-after-inauguration-by-pm-modi-enn25062403090
Visitor reviews Satire
“Arrived at an international airport with no scheduled flights since November 2023 and a very clean departure hall.”
“Four hundred and thirty-five crore, a peak of fifty-four flights in one month, and upkeep now costs three and a half crore a year.”
“The only recent traffic was fifty charter flights for funerals, which is a niche the Buddhist circuit did not anticipate.”