Srinagar airfield was established by the
Indian Air Force, and during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, the airstrip was used for the airlift of
Indian army troops deployed to prevent the capture of
Srinagar by the
Pakistan army. Although the airstrip was not well developed and lacked landing aids, it was used for airlift of troops successfully in October 1947. During the 1950s to 1970s, the airfield evolved into one of the forward attack bases of the Indian Air Force. On 7 September 1965, during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the airport was attacked by the
Pakistan Air Force, which damaged an Indian Air Force
Douglas C-47 Skytrain and an
Indian Airlines Douglas DC-3. As per
Chicago Tribune, one Indian aircraft and a
de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou transport of the
United Nations observers headquarters were damaged in the attack. Later, the airport, which housed various fighter squadrons of the Indian Air Force, served as a launchpad for combat air patrols and counter-air missions during the Indo-Pakistani wars in 1965 and 1971. The terminal was upgraded in February 1998 to be able to handle international
Hajj flights which started operating from January 2002. During the
Kargil War in 1999, civilian flights were stopped and the airport was taken over by the Indian Air Force. In March 2005, the airport was granted international status by the
Indian government. However, the name of the airport was not officially changed. In 2020, the
Bharatiya Janata Party proposed that the airport be named after Major
Somnath Sharma, the first recipient of India's highest military decoration,
Param Vir Chakra. ==Infrastructure==