Jay Prakash Narayan Airport
Jayprakash Narayan Airport (IATA: PAT, ICAO: VEPT) is a customs airport located in Patna, the state capital of Bihar in India.[4] It is named after independence activist Jayprakash Narayan.[5] It is classified as a restricted international airport due to its short runway.[6][7] It is the 9th busiest airport in India, and the annual passenger traffic decreased by 40% in the year 2020-21.[8][9] To meet demand, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working to expand and modernise airport infrastructure. The airport is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion project that is due to be completed in 2023.[10][11] In addition to this, the AAI has proposed to develop a civil enclave at Bihta Air Force Station to serve as the second airport for Patna.[12]
Jayprakash Narayan Airport | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Owner | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
Serves | Patna, Bihar, India | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 52 m / 170 ft | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 25°35′37″N 085°05′31″E | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
![]() ![]() PAT ![]() ![]() PAT ![]() ![]() PAT ![]() ![]() PAT | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (April 2020 - March 2021) | |||||||||||
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Structure
The airport currently has one runway designated 07/25 with an asphalt surface measuring 1,954 by 45 metres (6,411 ft × 148 ft).[13][14] The current runway of the airport is only around 6,000 feet long which makes it not possible for large aircraft to land there. The terminal building at the airport is spread across an area of 12,000 square meters and can handle around 2.5 million passengers annually. The waiting areas, as well as departure and arrival areas of the terminal building, have also been expanded recently due to the rising amounts of passengers flying to the airport. Due to the surge in passenger demand, a new terminal is under construction which will relieve the pressure on the existing terminal.[15]
Future Expansion
The runway length at Patna Airport is 7,000 feet.[16] Patna Airport is sandwiched between the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan and Phulwari Sharif railway station.[17] The runway length is 1,938 metres for landing from the east and 1,677 metres for landing from the west. The area of the terminal building will be increased from the existing 7,200 square metres to 57,000 square metres.[18] The new terminal building of Patna Airport will be a two-storey structure, equipped with six aerobridges and an apron area to park 14 aircraft at any given time. At present, the airport has the capacity to park only six aircraft. Several existing buildings in and around Patna Airport premises, including the Airport Colony and IAS Bhavan, will be demolished for the expansion work. Besides, several utility buildings, including the meteorological centre and Bihar Flying Club, will be shifted and a new ATC tower will be constructed adjacent to Birla Institute of Technology, Patna campus.[19]
13.1 acres of land near the Patna Airport will be used for construction of a world-class two-storey terminal building, and in lieu of that 11.35 acre of land in Anisabad, Patna will be transferred to Bihar Government by Airports Authority of India.[20] The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has proposed to extend the terminal for sustaining air operations at least till 2035 and handle 6 million passengers per annum. A new terminal building would be constructed and connected to the existing building via skybridge. In addition, the AAI has planned to develop a civil enclave at Bihta Air Force Station, 20 kilometres away from Patna, to cater to larger aircraft.[9] In October 2016, Bihar cabinet approved the Patna master plan which envisages development of a new airport at Bihta. Bihar government is acquiring 126 acres of land for construction of Bihta Airport.[21]
In September 2018, Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved ₹12.17 billion (US$160 million) for the terminal expansion that will be designed by Singapore firm Meinhardt and will be able to handle 4.5 million passengers a year, compared to present 0.7 million in transit. Once the new terminal is operational, the full passenger handling capacity of the airport will be at 10 million passengers annually. The new terminal will have an area of 65,155 square metres, including a basement area of 18,650 square metres. Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited has been selected to execute the design.[22] The new terminal building of Patna Airport will be complete by 2023, as construction already started in October–November 2018, and faced delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Once completed, it will turn the customs airport into an international airport.[23] As of February 2022, 37% of the work for the new terminal building has been completed. The terminal building is expected to be inaugurated for passenger service by December 2023.[24]
Airlines and destinations
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Air India | Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai |
FlyBig | Guwahati[25] |
Go First | Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai |
IndiGo | Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Ranchi |
SpiceJet | Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune |
Vistara | Bangalore, Delhi |
Statistics
As from 2019-2020 data, Patna Airport handled more than 4 million passengers, which was a 12.9% increase from 2018-2019.[26] Aircraft movements were at 30,959 which also increased by 10.2%.[27] Between 2019-2020 the Patna Airport also handled 12,249 metric tonnes of cargo which also increased by 7.1% from the previous years.[28] Patna Airport is currently the 14th busiest airport in India in terms of passengers catered by the airport.
Passenger, Aircraft Movement, and Cargo at Patna Airport (2011-2020)
Year | Passengers | Change | Aircraft Movement | Change | Cargo (MT) | Change | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020–21 | 2,710,000 | ![]() |
21,572 | ![]() |
11,859 | ![]() |
[29] |
2019–20 | 4,525,765 | ![]() |
30,959 | ![]() |
12,249 | ![]() |
[30] |
2018–19 | 4,061,900 | ![]() |
28,087 | ![]() |
11,435 | ![]() |
[31] |
2017–18 | 3,111,273 | ![]() |
21,916 | ![]() |
6,879 | ![]() |
[32] |
2016–17 | 2,112,150 | ![]() |
15,508 | ![]() |
6,591 | ![]() |
[33] |
2015–16 | 1,584,013 | ![]() |
13,947 | ![]() |
4,414 | ![]() |
[34] |
2014–15 | 1,196,540 | ![]() |
11,060 | ![]() |
5,198 | ![]() |
[35] |
2013–14 | 1,044,127 | ![]() |
9,902 | ![]() |
4,849 | ![]() |
[36] |
2012–13 | 1,003,169 | ![]() |
9,972 | ![]() |
2,251 | ![]() |
[37] |
2011–12 | 1,021,544 | ![]() |
10,369 | ![]() |
3,425 | ![]() |
[38] |
Incidents
- On 17 July 2000, Alliance Air Flight 7412 crashed near the airport, killing 60 people.[39]
See also
References
- "Annexure III - Passenger Data" (PDF). www.aai.aero. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- "Annexure II - Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). www.aai.aero. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- "Annexure IV - Freight Movement Data" (PDF). www.aai.aero. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- "Airport takes big leap..." The Telegraph. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- "Official WebSite of Central Excise and Service Tax, Patna Zone". customspatnazone.bih.nic.in. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- "Issued in Public Interest, Fly to Patna at Your Own Risk!". The Quint. 18 February 2016. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- "Politics and commercial considerations override safety concerns for DGCA". India Today. 30 November 1999. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- "Traffic News for the month of March 2019: Annexure-III" (PDF). Airports Authority of India. 1 May 2019. p. 3. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- "Bihta gets bigger wings". The Telegraph. 8 April 2016. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
- "Swanky terminal to replace old airport". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- Rumi, Faryal (7 December 2021). "New Patna airport building to be ready by '23". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- "PR 52 : Development and Interim Relief Measures at Patna Airport" (PDF). aai.aero. 5 December 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- "Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport: Technical Information". Airports Authority of India. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
- Airport information for VEPT Archived 6 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
- "Cabinet OKs Patna master plan, paves way for big bulidings [sic], new airport". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- "Bihta airbase runway: Bihar government unable to give more land for Bihta airbase runway". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- Choudhary, Ratnadeep (19 June 2018). "Why Patna airport is a disaster waiting to happen". Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- "Patna airport set for a makeover in 3 years". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017.
- "With New Terminal, Patna Airport Will Handle 8 Million Passengers A Year: Aviation Minister". NDTV.com. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- "Centre OKs land transfer for airport building expansion". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
- "Land identified to make Bihta airport operational for flyers". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 September 2016.
- Raj, Dev (27 November 2018). "Centre clears Rs 1217-cr project for Patna airport". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- "Patna airport expansion: Work on new terminal building underway". livemint.com. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- "New Patna Airport Terminal To Be Ready By Dec 2023, Says KS Vijayan". www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- "Flybig Website". www.flybig.in. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- "AAI Passenger Traffic News 2019-2020" (PDF). www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Aircraft Movements Data 2019-2020" (PDF). www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Cargo News 2019-2020" (PDF). www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2020-2021". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- "AAI Traffic News 2019-2020". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2018-2019". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2017-2018". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2016-2017". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2015-2016". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2014-2015". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2013-2014". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2012-2013". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- "AAI Traffic News 2011-2012". www.aai.aero. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- Accident history for {{{1}}} at Aviation Safety Network
External links
- Patna Airport webpage at official Airports Authority of India web site.