Pathankot Air Force Station
| Pathankot Air Force Station पठानकोट हवाई अड्डा ਪਠਾਨਕੋਟ ਹਵਾਈ ਅੱਡਾ | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: IXP – ICAO: VIPK | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of India | ||||||||||
| Operator | Indian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Serves | Pathankot | ||||||||||
| Location | Pathankot, Punjab, India | ||||||||||
| Opened | 21 November 2006 (civil) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,017 ft / 310 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°14′01″N 075°38′04″E / 32.23361°N 75.63444°E | ||||||||||
| Website |
www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  IXP Location of airport in India | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Pathankot Air Force Station (IATA: IXP, ICAO: VIPK) is a military airport located 3 km from Pathankot, India, on the Pathankot – Majra Road. It is part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force and covers an area of approximately 2000 acres (809.3 hectares).
Civil enclave
The civil enclave at the airport was inaugurated by the civil aviation minister at the time, Praful Patel, on 21 November 2006.[1] The facility was created by the efforts of Gurdaspur Member of Parliament, Bollywood film actor Vinod Khanna,[2][3] who had planned to make Pathankot a tourist spot and industrial hub.[4] No domestic flights operate to the airport.[4][5]
Incidents
On 2 January 2016, six heavily armed terrorists suspected to belong to Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked the Air Force Station. The terrorists were wearing Indian Army fatigues and rode a stolen car of a superintendent of the Punjab Police. All six terrorists and seven security forces personnel were killed in the gun battle on 4 January 2016.[6]
References
- ↑ "Pathankot Air Force Station inaugurated". tribuneindia.com. 22 November 2006.
- ↑ "Vinod Khanna". india.gov.in. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ Vinod Khanna
- 1 2 "Pathankot airport plain empty". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ "8 airports in India have no scheduled flights, loss in 3 years Rs 82 crore". dnaindia.com. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ "Terrorists storm air force base, first challenge to Modi's Pak outreach". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 June 2016.