April 20, 2017 TnH Global

Four SpiceJet flights from Patna soon

Low-cost airline SpiceJet would commence its flight operation from Jayaprakash Narayan International airport in Patna to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata from July 1.

Airport officials said a booking counter and other operational facilities would be provided to SpiceJet at Patna airport in a day or two. The Gurgaon-based airlines would operate two flights in the morning and another two in the evening from the city airport.

“SpiceJet has been approved to operate four flights daily from Patna airport. A schedule of flight operation duly approved by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has recently been communicated to us, based on which it would start its operations here from July 1,” Patna airport director R S Lahauria told a daily.

SpiceJet apart, Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia is also likely to operate its flights from the city airport from July. The budget carrier is to operate two flights on Delhi-Patna-Delhi route following a final nod by the DGCA recently.

In fact, different airlines have proposed to operate total 32 flights under the summer schedule from Patna airport. At present, 28 flights are available from Patna airport. Airport officials attributed the surge in flight operation to high passenger growth.

Patna airport has witnessed a steep surge in aircraft traffic over the past few years as it has increased from 10 in 2010 to 28 at present. Total 26 flights were operating from the city airport last summer. The rise in number of flights has been attributed to the growth in passenger traffic. The passenger flow at the city airport increased from 14.5% in 2014-15 to 32.4% in 2015-16 and again to 31.5% in 2016-17 (April to January).

Airport officials said the average daily footfall at the terminal building is around 7,000 passengers, whereas the total seating capacity in the passenger holding area is not more than 1000. It is in acknowledgement of the paucity of space in the terminal building that the state government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are working on a proposal for its expansion.

Efforts are being made to expand the terminal building at the airport into a double-storey swanky building with six aerobridges in order to accommodate an expected traffic of 30 lakh passengers per year. The Union cabinet in January also approved the transfer of 11.35 acres of land to Bihar government by way of exchanging equivalent land of AAI at Aneesabad. Actual construction work is expected to commence in June this year.

News Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com