New security hold area at Patna airport within a week

PATNA: The new security hold area at Patna airport will be thrown open to the flyers on the ground floor of the terminal building within a week. The new pre-fabricated structure can accommodate 400 flyers.
The move was taken by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to ease overcrowding at the terminal building, especially during the winter season when foggy weather disrupts flight operations.

Santosh Kumar, assistant general manager (air traffic management) at Patna airport, told this newspaper on Tuesday that the new security hold area towards the eastern side (airside) would accommodate passengers of two flights. “This is the second security hold area that has come up at Patna airport this year for passengers’ convenience,” he said.

Earlier, one security hold area on the first floor was inaugurated by state chief secretary Deepak Kumar in September. The airport has also increased the number of boarding gates from four to five.

Patna airport director Rajender Singh Lahauria said, “Space constraint is a challenge for us, especially during winter time. We are trying to minimise the inconvenience of passengers while creating some space for them to seat.”

A temporary structure near the canteen was also put up at Patna airport for passengers in case of delay of flights.

Meanwhile, though passengers were satisfied with the extra sitting arrangements made near the terminal building of the airport, flight delays irked them on Tuesday.

Pankaj Kumar, a frequent flyer, said his flight to Delhi was delayed by about four hours. “I didn’t get any information about the delay and when I enquired about the running status of the flight, the officials didn’t give an accurate answer,” he said.

Another Ahmedabad-bound flyer, Akshita Sinha, was also upset as she didn’t receive any information about the delay. However, she was satisfied with the sitting arrangements made outside the terminal building.