With the announcement of two new flights to Ahmedabad and Lucknow, required arrangements are underway to accommodate additional flights and flow of passengers on Birsa Munda Airport (BMA) in Ranchi. Officials at BMA said that two new aprons and two aerobridges were being constructed inside the airport to lure more and more flights to the airport.
Remarkably, BMA is to get functional round the clock from April 25 this year after it crossed one million mark last April while air passenger traffic increased by 44 per cent as compared to the number of passengers that travelled through it during the previous year. Go Airways is to start new flight Ahmedabad from March 29, booking for which is likely to be started from February 29.
“Flow of passengers at the Airport has also increased considerably from 2500 passenger per day to 6000 passengers per day. Currently, 27 flights of different airline companies are operational at BMA and will soon get increased to 30 with the introduction of 2 new flights of Indigo and one of Go Airways,” said Terminal Manager at BMA Manoj Prasad Singh. Singh further added that a demand for additional staff has already been made to the Airports Authority of India for which initial approval has been given as per the requirement for operating flights from BMA during night.
“In addition to that some changes infrastructure is also being done by constructing additional two aprons and two aero bridges in the Airport to accommodate more and more flights coming to Ranchi,” said the Terminal Manager. Number of X-Ray machines was also being increased from 3 to 4 to avoid any rush during checking in, he added.
Different airline companies have been informed about the 24 hour landing and take-off facility at the BMA so that direct flight to all major cities and State Capital could be provided.
Sources revealed that Spice Airways has been exploring the possibilities to operate from Ranchi also while Jet Airways is also trying to resume services from BMA.