Kushinagar International Airport — Kushinagar, India

Kushinagar International Airport (KBK) is located in Kushinagar in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a town of major religious significance as the site where, according to Buddhist tradition, Gautama Buddha attained parinirvana. KBK was developed specifically to boost Buddhist pilgrimage tourism, aiming to connect Kushinagar directly with international origins such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other countries with large Buddhist populations, reducing reliance on longer overland transfers from Varanasi or Gorakhpur. The airport opened with considerable ceremony, reflecting its intended role in India's broader Buddhist circuit tourism strategy alongside other pilgrimage sites like Bodh Gaya and Sarnath. Domestic connections to major Indian cities supplement the international pilgrimage-focused routes. KBK's relatively small scale mirrors its niche but symbolically important purpose.