Patna airport handled 17 lakh flyers in 5 months

PATNA: The Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna registered 44.2% growth in terms of flyer flow in the first five months from April to August of the current financial year.

The growth between April to June was also around 44%. The actual passenger flow at the city airport increased by 7,02,818 in July and August.

As per the figures in the latest air traffic report of the Airports Authority of India, the Patna airport despite its space constraints handled 17,20,087 passengers during April to August this year as against 11,92,459 during the same period in 2017.

Compared to the country’s other main airports, the Patna airport ranked 18th as far as percentage increase in passenger flow over the corresponding period in the previous financial year is concerned.

“An average growth of around 44% in terms of passenger traffic is quite significant for an airport like Patna’s considering its space crunch. The daily footfall at the terminal building is around 2,000, and we keep taking steps to create additional space,” airport director Rajender Singh Lahauria said.

For instance, he said, a porta cabin has recently been put up in the security hold area on the ground floor and an additional boarding gate opened recently.

Meanwhile, efforts are on to commence work on the development of a new terminal building at the city airport. Lahauria said the stone of the new terminal building would be laid soon.

“The Es 1217-crore project has already been approved by the central cabinet and work order for the same issued,” he said and added the contract for development of the new terminal building has been awarded to Hyderabad- based Nagarjuna Construction Company.

The new terminal building will be a two-storey structure equipped with six aerobridge. Its apron area will be large enough to allow parking of 14 aircraft at a time against the existing parking capacity of four aircraft.