Make Darbhanga international airport, Nitish Kumar urges Hardeep Singh Puri

PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar wrote a letter to Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri and also talked to him on Wednesday, requesting for more flights to Darbhanga airport, development of permanent terminal amenities there and naming it after Maithili poet Vidyapati. Puri assured the CM to do the needful at the earliest.
“Darbhanga airport is being used by many people in a very short time period. It has the potential to provide connectivity to a large number of people.I had proposed during the foundation laying for the civil enclave on December 24, 2018 to name it as ‘Vidyapati airport’. The then minister, Suresh Prabhu, had agreed to the proposal. Apart from people from Mithilanchal region, it is my feeling as well that Darbhanga airport be notified as Vidyapati airport,” Nitish wrote.
The airport belongs to Indian Air Force and flight operations commenced here on November 8 this year. The airport is presently handling three flights of SpiceJet to Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai daily.
Nitish has requested Puri to increase the number of flights as well by roping in more airlines. “It is also required to have direct connectivity to Darbhanga from few more prominent cities in the country,” he wrote.
The flight operations at Darbhanga commenced following construction of a civil enclave over an area of 15,000 sq ft. Nitish has demanded construction of a permanent terminal building over there. “It is expected from the central government to initiate steps for transfer of land earmarked for construction of permanent terminal building by the Air Force to Darbhanga airport at the earliest. The state government has already allocated funds for acquiring 31 acres of land from the Air Force for the terminal building,” Nitish wrote in his letter.
Darbhanga airport has a runway of 9,000ft and six check-in counters and two aprons. The CM opined that it can be developed as an international airport along with cargo services. “Airport expansion along with night-landing facility and installation of necessary equipment for enabling flight operations during poor visibility owing to foggy conditions are required for making it an international airport,” the letter stated.
Nitish also requested the minister to initiate steps for raising the boundary wall around Darbhanga airport for security purposes. He said if required and upon approval from the central government, the state government can also take up this work.