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For years, travelling from Dehradun in Garhwal to the Kumaon foothills meant one thing: a long road day through Haridwar, Najibabad and Kashipur, with tea stops and traffic jams in roughly equal measure. That changed on 4 January 2019, when Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Cabinet Minister Prakash Pant and Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal flagged off the first regional flight from Dehradun to Pantnagar at Jolly Grant.
On paper, it was a short hop of under an hour. In practice, it was the state’s first serious attempt to stitch its two regions together by air, and it set the tone for the heli routes, runway upgrades and regional links that followed.
This guide explains what the launch involved, how the route has fared since, and how you can use today’s air connections to plan a smarter, less tiring trip across Uttarakhand.
If you only have a minute, here are the essentials:
Schedules on this sector have changed several times since then. Always confirm current operations directly with the airline before you lock in hotels or transfers.
Uttarakhand has two administrative divisions. Garhwal covers the west, including Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar and the Char Dham shrines. Kumaon covers the east, including Nainital, Haldwani, Almora, Ranikhet and the Corbett belt.
Linking the two by road is slower than the map suggests. The most practical route dips south into the plains of western Uttar Pradesh before climbing back into Uttarakhand, which easily turns into the better part of a day behind the wheel.
At the flag-off, the Chief Minister said the service would boost Garhwal and Kumaon connectivity. That was the political headline. For ordinary travellers, the benefit was simpler. A government officer, a student at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, or a family heading to the lakes of Kumaon could now cover the distance in less time than a long lunch.
The route also mattered beyond tourism. Dehradun holds the state secretariat, major hospitals and several national institutes, while the Rudrapur and Pantnagar belt is one of Uttarakhand’s main industrial and agricultural hubs. Officials, doctors, factory managers and researchers move between these centres all the time, and a same-day return trip suddenly became realistic.
Think of it like a bypass around a busy town. The old road still exists, and most people still use it, but simply having the option changes how you plan.
UDAN, short for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, is the Government of India’s regional connectivity programme. It supports airlines with viability gap funding so that fares on thin regional routes stay within reach of ordinary passengers. The Doon to Pantnagar service was launched under this programme, which explains why a route with modest demand could be attempted at all.
Why does this matter to you as a traveller? Routes that depend on support funding tend to be more fragile than busy metro routes. They can be revised, paused or handed to a new operator. That is not a reason to avoid them, only a reason to double-check before you depend on them.
Regional aviation in hill states rarely moves in a straight line, and Pantnagar’s history shows this clearly. The airport has seen subsidised Delhi services, seasonal flights and long quiet gaps over the past two decades. Its runway measures about 1,372 metres, which limits it to smaller turboprop aircraft for now.
After the 2019 launch, the bigger shift came on 27 March 2022, when IndiGo added Pantnagar to its network. That gave the Kumaon foothills daily links to both the state capital and Delhi on the country’s largest airline.
Since then, frequencies and operators on the Dehradun sector have changed more than once, and booking platforms have at times shown no direct options at all. Our practical advice:
Small regional sectors work a little differently from a Delhi to Mumbai flight. A few checks will save you stress at the airport:
None of this is complicated. It simply rewards the traveller who plans one step further than the ticket.
Jolly Grant Airport sits about 25 km south of Dehradun city. It is actually closer to Rishikesh, around 20 km away, with Haridwar roughly 35 km off. Its newer terminal opened in phases between 2021 and 2024 and handles jet aircraft, which is why it works as Garhwal’s main gateway for flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and other major cities.
Use it for Rishikesh, Haridwar, Mussoorie, Dehradun itself and the start of most Char Dham journeys.
Located between Rudrapur and Haldwani, Pantnagar is the main air gateway to Kumaon. Approximate road distances from the airport:
This makes Pantnagar the nearest airport to Jim Corbett for most visitors, and a far easier arrival point for the Kumaon hills than a seven-hour drive from Delhi.
There is no airport in Nainital itself, so flying in always involves a short road leg. Here is how to make it smooth:
Memorable India’s Nainital, Kausani and Ranikhet tour package builds a relaxed Kumaon circuit around this kind of arrival, so you spend your time on the lakes and ridges rather than on the highway.
The Pantnagar launch was part of a wider push. Over the following years, the state and the Centre added a network of short helicopter routes that reach places no runway can.
For pilgrims short on time or stamina, Memorable India’s Char Dham Yatra by helicopter package handles the permits, registrations and ground logistics that make these flights work.
A few practical points before you book any helicopter seat:
Several projects could reshape how visitors move around the state over the next few years:
For travellers, the most useful outcome would be jet services from more cities straight into Kumaon. That would make a Nainital or Corbett long weekend realistic from Mumbai or Bengaluru without a Delhi connection. Until then, Delhi remains the main hub for flights into Pantnagar.
Treat these as direction, not dates. Infrastructure timelines in mountain states often stretch, so plan your trip around what operates today.
Flying is not automatically the better choice. It depends on your time, group size and travel style.
Fly when:
Drive when:
A useful way to think about it: flying is the express train, and the road is the scenic local. Both reach the destination; the question is what you want from the journey in between.
Here is a sample seven-day flow that uses both gateways well:
This plan avoids backtracking, which is the single biggest time-waster on Uttarakhand trips. Our Uttarakhand tour packages use the same logic, pairing the spiritual towns of Garhwal with the lake country of Kumaon.
On the sustainability side, shorter road legs can mean fewer hours of idling in hill traffic, but helicopters carry a real environmental cost. Choose shared shuttles over private charters, respect baggage limits, and spend your saved time with local guides, homestays and village-run cafes that keep tourism income in the hills.
The 2019 flag-off did more than open a single route. It showed that Uttarakhand’s two regions could be linked in under an hour, and it pushed the state toward helicopter networks, longer runways and wider regional links. Schedules will keep shifting, so the smart traveller plans around current operations and keeps a road option in reserve.
Planning a trip that covers both Garhwal and Kumaon? Talk to the Memorable India team and we will build an itinerary around the flights, roads and rail links that actually work on your dates.
The service was flagged off on 4 January 2019 from Jolly Grant in Dehradun. Alliance Air operated it under the central government’s regional connectivity programme, initially four days a week.
The flying time is under an hour, roughly 50 minutes at the time of launch. By road, the same journey usually takes most of a day because the route passes through the plains of western Uttar Pradesh.
Pantnagar is the closest commercial airport for most visitors, about 120 km from the park. Delhi offers far more flights but involves a much longer drive.
No. Nainital has no airport. Fly into Pantnagar, about 65 km away, and continue by road through Haldwani and Kathgodam, which takes around two hours.
Yes. Regional helicopter routes connect places such as Dehradun, Gauchar, Chinyalisaur, Haldwani, Almora, Pithoragarh and Munsyari. Kedarnath shuttles are booked separately through IRCTC HeliYatra.
That is the stated plan. The runway is approved for extension from 1,372 metres to 3,000 metres, and land has been transferred, but no firm date for international flights has been announced.
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