Kushinagar International Airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on October 20, 2021. There are just too many unanswered questions about this airport project.

Gorakhpur Airport Just 50km Away

Gorakhpur, a fully functional airport is just 50 km away from Kushinagar. There are 68 weekly flights currently operating out of Gorakhpur, which is almost equal in size, if not bigger, than Kushinagar Airport. The distance between the two airports can be covered by road in one hour.

Kushinagar Part of the Buddhist Circuit

Kushinagar is an important pilgrimage for Buddhists. This is the place where Lord Buddha attained Nirvana. It forms a part of the Buddhist circuit which includes other towns such as Bodhgaya, Shravasti, Sarnath, Kapilvastu and, Lumbini.

The Long History of Kushinagar

The airport was conceived by Mayawati in 2008 as a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) project. The project was estimated to cost ₹850 crores spread over 700 acres. The project turned out to be too big and not viable. Later Akhilesh Yadav commissioned IL&FS as consultants who brought down to estimated costs to ₹350 crores and to be built over 550 acres. The consultants painted a rosy picture of the project viability but failed to entice interest from any private player. In 2015, the UP government decided to hand over the project to the Airports Authority of India.
After the Regional Connectivity Scheme -2016 was announced by the Central government, the UP government made its own Civil Aviation policy in 2017. UP added many more benefits to the airline who would fly to RCS airports, Kushinagar being one such airport.

Finally, the construction started in 2019 and the airport was inaugurated in October 2021.

Kushinagar is among the most backward districts of UP with per capita income among the lowest in the country. The population of the district is about 35.6 lakhs which the Kushinagar town has a population of just 22,214. There is no decent hotel in the city.

Kushinagar Undervalued by Governments

The governments were hell-bent to make this airport. All governments tried to underestimate the cost in order to make it viable for airlines. The actual costs are well over ₹1000 crores which the government of the day claims to be only ₹260 crores.

Why Gorakhpur could not be upgraded and how would tourism increase just be having an International Airport in Kushinagar is anybody’s guess. Maybe there is something more than what meets the eye.

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