AAI Chairman visits JPNI Airport, Patna

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India's (AAI) Chairman Arvind Singh recently, visited JPNI Airport, Patna, to review the ongoing Civil Aviation Infrastructure Development Projects in Bihar. He was accompanied by AAI's Member (Planning) AK Pathak and other senior officers from corporate headquarters, New Delhi.

Singh held extensive discussions with the senior officers of AAI about the ongoing works at Patna airport and other airports of Bihar including plans to explore possibilities to develop other small airports in the State. Chairman also had a meeting with the state government of Bihar's Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar in presence of Principal Secretary and senior officers of state government.

During the meeting, Chairman assured that the ongoing development works of Patna's New Terminal Building & extension or modification works of the existing Terminal Building will be completed expeditiously. He said that the expansion & modification work of the current terminal building will be given priority as it will give a big relief to the travelling passengers in terms of less waiting time at queues at various passenger processing points.

Chairman also took up the critical issues relating to requirement of 16.5 acres of the government land for installation of new navigational aid DVOR and construction of Isolation bay (Used for parking of aircraft with suspected bomb threat or hijack situation) as well a NOC from Patna Zoo and road construction dept for installation of 720 m CAT-I Approach Lighting System (ALS).

It was assured by the state government that 16.5 acres of govt land will be transferred to AAI to meet the critical requirement and working permission will be issued to AAI as soon as possible so that work can be immediately started. NOC for installation of 720m lights will also be issued at the earliest. The installation of 720m CAT-I ALS will enable landing of aircraft during poor visibility conditions (up to visibility/RVR as low as 750m which at present is 1000m).

At present, due to infrastructure constraints, a maximum of five flights are accepted per hour at Patna airport. As new infrastructure is being developed by AAI at a cost of approx. 1,200 crores at Patna airport, additional land requirements were also discussed to increase the airport's aircraft handling capacity proportionate to the new terminal building capacity being created (which is 8 million passengers per annum). After the extension work, the number of flights handled per hour will increase to 10. To this effect, the proposal for construction of Parallel Taxi Track (PTT), which requires 19 acres of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Land and 6 acres of government land, was also discussed.

Chairman also discussed the progress of Bihta Airport. The tender process for upcoming Bihta Airport is likely to be completed soon and AAI will be creating the infrastructure keeping into consideration that in future bigger aircraft can be operated at Bihta. Singh impressed upon the state government that for bigger aircraft to land in future at Bihta, the existing Indian Air Force Runway needs to be extended from existing 8,200 feet to 12,000 feet for which additional land of approx 192 acres is required.

Singh also held interaction with all the Airport stakeholders at the airport and took their suggestions on improvements that can be made possible at Patna airport. He requested all stakeholders to act as ambassadors of AAI in disseminating information about the passengers' facilities being created by AAI at Patna airport. All stakeholders appreciated the works done in the last six months by AAI Team at Patna airport.

Chairman also inaugurated a new Car Rental and Maxi Cab Counter of the Airport. This facility will now provide ease to the arriving passengers in terms of transport facility of their choice.

Disclaimer: This story is a press release and is being published without any editing by PSU Watch desk. Our editorial team has only changed the headline.