The airport is named after 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, a Buddhist monk whose Spituk Monastery is in vicinity to the airfield.The Ministry of Defence clarified that a portion of land will be earmarked for a construction of a new terminal and the airport will continue to serve military flights.[8] The new terminal covering an area of 19,000 m2 (200,000 sq ft) along with aero bridges was constructed at a cost of ₹2 billion (US$23 million).It would be equipped with all modern and essential passenger-friendly facilities, will have 18 check-in counters, in-line baggage handling system and would be capable of serving 2 million passengers per annum.[12] Due to the presence of mountain winds in the afternoon, all flights operate in the morning and the approach is challenging as it is unidirectional with a higher terrain towards the eastern end of the airport.