Flight operations from Darbhanga likely to start by December: Bihar minister

PATNA: Darbhanga airbase will be ready for commercial flight operations by December this year, state water resources minister Sanjay Jha said.
“CM Nitish Kumar inspected the ongoing works in June and various issues were sorted out accordingly to expedite the works. I met civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri at New Delhi on Monday. As of now, efforts are being made to make all required infrastructure partially ready by September and completely ready by December,” Jha told TOI over phone from Delhi on Tuesday.
The foundation stone for development of civil enclave and other utilities required for flight operations at Darbhanga airbase was laid by CM Nitish Kumar on December 24, 2018.Nitish on June 24 requested the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to complete the works at the earliest.
The upcoming terminal building is getting constructed over an area of 15,000sq feet, having capacity to accommodate 200 passengers at peak hour. SpiceJet has been selected to operate flights from Darbhanga in the bidding process conducted earlier under Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.
KS Vijayan, general manager (engineering), projects, AAI-Patna told this newspaper on Tuesday that they are expecting all civil enclave and re-carpeting of airstrip Darbhanga airport works to be done by September-end.
“Around 95% work of the terminal building has been completed. As far as runway is concerned, around 50% recarpeting work has been done. It will be enough for the take-off and the landing of the aircraft. The total length of runway is 2,590 metres. Only the road issues (entrance and exit route) are to be resolved,” Vijayan said.
The SpiceJet, under Udan scheme, is to operate flights from Darbhanga to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. “We will start flight operations as soon as we are informed that the airstrip is ready for commercial flights,” one of the SpiceJet executives said.
The district administration is in the process of acquiring additional 31 acre land in Ranipur-Bihatwara area for construction of a permanent civil enclave at Darbhanga airbase.
The AAI officials said the state government had already sanctioned funds for land acquisition. “Some swapping has to take place between India Air Force and AAI for the permanent terminal building,” an official said.