Pakyong Airport — Sikkim's only airport, India's 100th, inaugurated with great fanfare in 2018 — has had no commercial flights since June 2024. The Sikkim Assembly's response in March 2026 was a formal government resolution: rename it. Flights are expected in October. Probably.
Pakyong Airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in September 2018 as India's 100th operational airport, perched at 4,500 feet in East Sikkim as the country's highest commercial airstrip. In June 2024, all commercial operations were quietly suspended due to persistent weather and poor visibility issues. For the next 21 months, the airport had a runway, a terminal, and no departures. On March 26, 2026, the Sikkim Legislative Assembly passed a government resolution to rename it after freedom fighter Trilochan Pokhrel. The renaming was formal and ceremonial. The Civil Aviation Ministry, meanwhile, issued a Letter of Intent to a 9-seater aircraft operator for a single Pakyong-Guwahati route, with resumption of operations described as expected by October 2026. India's 100th airport now has a new name, a distinguished honoree, and the same departure board it had in June 2024: empty.