Kota Airport

History

Spread over 152 acres, Kota Airport was originally built by the Royal family of the princely state of Kota and was taken over by the government in 1951. Originally serviced by Indian Airlines Dakota aircraft and later by Vayudoot and Jagson Airlines, shutdown of major industries and Kota becoming a major railway junction led to demand for air travel decreasing, prompting the airlines to stop their services.

Current status

Since 1997, there have been no scheduled operations at this airport, though there has been talk of Air India starting flights to Mumbai and Delhi. The last airline to fly to Kota was Vayudoot. In 2005, it was reported that Airports Authority of India, which maintains the airport spends Rs. 6.3 million annually on maintenance, whereas the income is Rs. 600,000, while six acres of the airports property has been encroached upon by slums.