Airport type Public Elevation AMSL 984 ft / 300 m 4,921 1,500 | Location Gelephu District 11/29 4,921 1,500 Asphalt | |
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Operator Department of Civil Aviation of Bhutan | ||
Gelephu Airport (IATA: GLU, ICAO: VQGP) is located in Samtenling Gewog, about three kilometres from Gelephu town in Sarpang District, Bhutan. The airport has been constructed on an area spanning over 500 acres but is not yet in use. It is one of only four airports in Bhutan.
History
The airport was inaugurated in October 2012, but has not yet established scheduled operations due to its lack of certification from the Department of Civil Aviation of Bhutan. The airport was originally planned as an international airport but the plan was shelved in 2008. In January 2015, The Department of Civil Aviation told Kuensel that the airport had been closed to scheduled flights due to the need to construct a new terminal building and control tower. A spokesperson said that it was hoping the new structures would be completed in February 2015, and that "Then from our side it’ll be open to scheduled flights." Despite this, it was reported that Drukair was not aware of the airport's reopening and stated that it would not launch commercial flights until it had studied the market conditions to ensure scheduled operations were viable.