There’s something so cute about a take-off or landing at a tiny airport, with minimum rush and even fewer gates.
What adds to this fun experience is often the beautiful surroundings of these picturesque airports. Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com offers a peek at some of India's most charming wee airports that you probably never heard of.
With a stunning backdrop of the Himalayas, Gaggal airport, also known as Kangara airport, is one of the most tinily majestic airports in the country. Its small terminal can handle 100 passengers at a time.
Runway length: 1,372 m
Situated in Assam's Lakhimpur district, it can handle only 400 passengers and serves Arunachal Pradesh.
Runway length: 1,670 m
Established in 1928, Juhu Aerodrome is where JRD Tata took off in a plane and began India's flight into aviation. Still in operation for private jets and helicopter charters.
Runway length: 1143 m.
Only Shillong Airport, located at Umroi, about 30 km from the city centre, remains operational among 3 airports. Passenger traffic is limited to only five flights.
Runway length: 1,829 m
Sindhudurg Airport, also known as Chipi Airport, is the first air strip in Maharashtra's coastal Konkan region. Spread across a mere 679 acres, flights come in from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Runway length: 2,500 m.
The tropical archipelago of Lakshadweep has a fully-functional and utterly gorgeous public airport on Agatti island, a connecting node to the other union territoy islands.
Runway length: 1,204 m
The chotu (little) airport at Keshod, 30 km from the Arabian sea, was established by Mahabat Khanji III, the Nawab of Junagadh in early 1930s for his use and finally his escape to Pakistan. The airport began commercial flights again only in 2022.
Runway length: 1,372 m
Even though Bikaner has a well-established commercial airport at Jodhpur, 245 km away, the Nal Air Force Station in the city doubles up as Bikaner’s civil airport. It sees an impressive daily traffic of about 4,600 passengers.
Runway length: 2,731 m