Pathankot Air Force Station
| Pathankot Air Force Station पठानकोट हवाई अडà¥à¤¡à¤¾ ਪਠਾਨਕੋਟ ਹਵਾਈ ਅੱਡਾ | |||||||||||
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  IXP | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of India | ||||||||||
| Operator | Indian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Serves | Pathankot | ||||||||||
| Location | Pathankot, Punjab, India | ||||||||||
| Opened | November 21, 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 | ||||||||||
| 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 November 21, 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 4th January.[6]
References
- ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Punjab".
- ↑ "Vinod Khanna".
- ↑ Vinod Khanna
- 1 2 "Pathankot airport plain empty". Hindustan Times.
- ↑ "8 airports in India have no scheduled flights, loss in 3 years Rs 82 crore". dna. 30 November 2014.
- ↑ "Terrorists storm air force base, first challenge to Modi’s Pak outreach". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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