Extended security area at Patna airport to be opened on January 15

PATNA: The security hold area (SHA) inside the terminal building of Jayaprakash Narayan International (JPNI) Airport will now be able to accommodate approximately 100 flyers more than its present capacity of 300.
An extension of the SHA will be opened on the first floor on January 15. Porta cabins with transparent windows have been installed in the area facing the apron on one side for the purpose.

JPNI Airport director Rajinder Singh Lahauria claimed that the extended SHA was initially slated to be inaugurated by January 10. “As it is considered inauspicious to start anything new in the Hindu month of ‘Kharmas’, we rescheduled it to January 15. The extended SHA will help decongest the terminal building and provide more space to flyers,” Lahauria told TOI on Thursday evening.

Apparently, a number of flyers are seen standing or sitting on the stairs connecting the ground floor to the first floor of the SHA due to shortage of seating capacity. The congestion mostly occurs during the winter season owing to disruption of flight services due to poor visibility in morning and evening hours.

The extended SHA will also facilitate opening of another boarding gate on the first floor of the terminal building. There are four boarding gates on the ground floor of the terminal building, at present.

Parking facility for aircraft: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is trying to start pushback parking facility at the Patna airport which will allow more aircraft to be parked within the existing space on the apron.

Pushback is an aviation procedure in which an aircraft is parked in a way that its nose faces the terminal building. For take-off, the aircraft is pushed away from the building towards the runway using low-profile vehicles called pushback tractors or tugs.

“We have sent a proposal to the AAI headquarters to start pushback parking facility here. A team of engineers from our headquarters arrived at Patna on Thursday to measure the coordinates of the apron over the next two days. Once approved, two more flights will be allowed to be parked in addition to the existing parking capacity of four aircraft,” Lahauria said.

The airport director pointed out that all these were temporary arrangements till the new terminal building was ready. The AAI has targeted to begin construction of a new state-of-the-art terminal building at the Patna airport from February. The expanded terminal building will be a two-storeyed structure equipped with six aerobridges and apron area to allow parking of 14 aircraft.