[3] Kargil rose to prominence in the late 1990s as the site of an undeclared war between India and Pakistan.

The terminal building has the capacity to handle 100 peak hour passengers at a time.

It was built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at a cost of 350 million Rupees, initially for civilian use but was transferred to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2003 after it was damaged in the Kargil War in 1999.

[11] The Jammu and Kashmir government sanctioned ₹ billion to upgrade the airport to handle commercial flights.

The report recommended extending the existing 6,000-foot (1,800 m) runway by another 5,000 ft (1,500 m) in order to make it suitable for commercial jets.