Srinagar airport: getting to the city, security and winter delays

Getting to the city

“Pre-paid taxis and cab services are available outside the arrivals terminal,” says the Srinagar district administration. We found no official pre-paid fare chart. For a guide:

• Vargis Khan’s 2026–27 rate list gives ₹940 for an airport drop and ₹1,665 for a return trip, without naming the vehicle.
• A travel site, Uncharted Lens, puts a pre-paid taxi to Dal Lake at ₹1,200–1,500 and a shared taxi at ₹150–250 a seat.

Ask for the fare at the pre-paid counter before you leave the terminal. Taxi fares to Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg are in Srinagar taxi fares. For the drive onward, the Go Kashmir app gives an estimated road time from Srinagar on its place cards.

Security and what you can’t carry

• Bags are X-rayed before the terminal. Baggage and vehicles are screened at an outer checkpoint, the “Drop Gate”, which had 10 X-ray machines in 2023, Kashmir Life reported. Allow extra time on departure; we found no official reporting time, so follow your airline’s advice.
• Satellite phones are prohibited “without prior government approval”, and carrying one can lead to penalties, Kashmir Observer reported in April 2026. A US citizen was detained for carrying one in August 2024, according to Greater Kashmir.

Flight hours and runway work in 2026

1. 6 Apr 2026
   Flights were limited to 8 am–5 pm under a NOTAM issued by the Indian Air Force for “runway upgradation work”, Kashmir Life reported.
2. Jun 2026
   Plans were announced to suspend passenger flights every Monday and Tuesday from July to September for runway repairs, Kashmir Life reported on 1 June, and to close the airport from 1 to 16 October, according to a later Kashmir Life report on 12 June.
3. 4 Jul 2026
   The weekly closures were dropped: “there will be no full airfield closure at Srinagar Airport this year”, Kashmir Observer reported.
4. 19 Oct 2026
   The 8 am–5 pm limit was withdrawn, and the winter schedule starts on 25 October, Kashmir Observer reported. Airlines were filing slots for late-evening flights.

Flying from Delhi? Flight times, fares and the rail alternative are in Delhi to Kashmir.

Snow, fog and delays

Winter weather stops flights at Srinagar for hours or a whole day:

• 6 January 2025: snowfall pushed all flights to after 9:30 am, after two days of fog delays and diversions, Kashmir Life reported.
• 23 January 2026: “All flights to and from Srinagar Airport have been cancelled for the day”, according to Skymet.
• 27 January 2026: 58 flights were cancelled, 29 arriving and 29 departing, Kashmir Life reported. Flights resumed the next morning, with the first landing at 9:25 am, according to Kashmir Observer.

From December to February, keep a spare day before an onward connection, and check your flight before leaving for the airport. The train is a fallback: see Vande Bharat to Srinagar.

The new terminal

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a new civil enclave on 24 February 2026, at an estimated ₹1,677 crore, with a 71,500 sq m terminal for 10 million passengers a year and 15 aircraft parking bays, Kashmir Life reported. The current terminal covers about 20,000 sq m and was designed for 2.5 million passengers a year, the Airport Director told Kashmir Observer; it handled about 4.4 million in 2024. By September 2026 the project “has not yet reached the main construction phase”, with completion targeted for 2031, Kashmir Observer reported.

Srinagar airport questions