Kullu–Manali Airport
airport

Kullu–Manali Airport (IATA: KUU, ICAO: VIBR), also called Bhuntar Airport, is a domestic airport serving the cities of Kullu and Manali in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The airport is located at Bhuntar, 11 km from Kullu and 52 km from Manali.
The airport is considered a challenging airport for pilots because of its single runway set in a deep valley whose peaks rise several thousand feet higher than the runway. Also, the airport is located on the banks of the river Beas, and in 1995, its flash floods posed a threat to the runway. The new air terminal at Bhuntar was inaugurated in 2008, and the airport apron enlarged to park two aircraft at a time. Kingfisher Airlines ceased operations in September 2012 while Air India Regional resumed its operations to Kullu in May 2013. Himalayan Bulls, in collaboration with Deccan Charters, commenced Kullu-Chandigarh-Kullu flights thrice a day from 2 April 2014. As of April 2024, Alliance Air is the sole airline operating to and from the airport.
Upgrades
In order to strengthen air connectivity in the state, the Himachal Pradesh Government plans to upgrade the airport. The Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Roorkee has prepared a detailed feasibility report for expanding the airport runway by 550 metres at a cost of Rs.
The public source identifies “Kullu–Manali Airport” as airport. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kullu, Manali and Airport.
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q619720. Authority coordinates are 31.877, 77.154. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1995, 2008, 2012 and 2013.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kullu–Manali Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.