A mountainous state with three airports and a tourism economy that punches above its weight is about to bet big on the skies. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday, 25 October 2026, outlined an ambitious aviation push — anchoring it on a ₹3,000 crore expansion of Kangra Airport and a first-of-its-kind state-funded Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of ₹35 crore to keep flights to Shimla and Dharamshala running even when passenger numbers dip.

The Kangra Airport gamble — and why A320s matter

Kangra Airport, also known as Gaggal Airport, currently handles only small turboprop aircraft, a limitation that quietly caps how many tourists can actually fly into the Kangra-Dharamshala belt. CM Sukhu said land acquisition for the expansion project has already begun, and that he recently placed the case before the Union Minister of Civil Aviation to ensure wide-body access within the next four to five years.

The prize: an Airbus A320-capable runway. That single upgrade would collapse travel times from metros, open the valley to chartered and seasonal high-volume flights, and dramatically change the economics of leisure tourism in the region. In terrain as challenging as the Kangra valley, getting to that point is no small feat — mountain airports demand extraordinary land acquisition, grading, and environmental clearances, which is precisely why the state is moving now rather than later.

₹35 crore VGF — Himachal's first aviation subsidy play

Even before runways are lengthened, Sukhu's government is tackling the harder commercial problem: airlines simply don't find thin mountain routes profitable year-round. The state's answer is a ₹35 crore VGF commitment — described by the CM as happening 'for the first time' in Himachal Pradesh — designed to bridge the revenue gap so that udaan (flights) to Shimla and Dharamshala stay on the schedule even in off-peak seasons.

Viability gap support is not a new concept nationally; the central government's UDAN scheme, launched in 2016, pioneered exactly this logic for underserved regional airports. But states backstopping routes independently with their own treasury signals a sharper political commitment to connectivity — and a recognition that waiting for central allocation alone hasn't been enough for Himachal's seasonal markets.

Golf courses, high-value tourism, and the bigger picture

Sukhu also flagged that a large golf course in Kangra is under consideration, pairing infrastructure investment with a deliberate pitch for high-spend leisure tourism. The combination — upgraded airport, subsidised year-round flights, premium sporting amenity — traces an integrated strategy rather than piecemeal announcements.

Himachal Pradesh's tourism economy is deeply dependent on road access, making it vulnerable to landslides, bad weather, and seasonal highway closures. Better air connectivity is therefore not just a convenience upgrade; it is a resilience investment for a state whose visitor economy can be grounded — literally — by a single blocked mountain pass.

Land acquisition momentum at Kangra and the first flight departures under the new VGF window will be the real test of whether this blueprint lifts off on schedule.