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. It is named after the independence activist and political leader, Jayprakash Narayan. It is classified as a restricted international airport due to its short runway. It is the 9th busiest airport in India, and the annual passenger traffic decreased by 40% in the year 2020-21. 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 includes a new two-level passenger terminal, which will be completed by December 2023. In addition to this, the AAI has proposed to develop a civil enclave at Bihta Air Force Station to serve as a second airport for Patna.

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). 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.

Future expansion

The runway length at Patna Airport is 7,000 feet. Patna Airport is sandwiched between the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan and Phulwari Sharif railway station. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

As of 2019-2020 data, Patna Airport handled more than 4 million passengers which was the highest ever recorded at the airport before the COVID-19 pandemic. Aircraft movements are currently at 25,501 which also has increased by 18.2% since previous years. Between 2021-22 the Patna Airport also handled 12,409 metric tonnes of cargo which also increased by 4.6% from the previous years. 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 (2011-2022)

Year	Passengers	Change	Aircraft Movement	Change	Cargo (MT)	Change	Ref
2021–22	2,967,681	9.5%	25,501	18.2%	12,409	4.6%
2020–21	2,710,000	40.1%	21,572	30.3%	11,859	3.2%
2019–20	4,525,765	11.4%	30,959	10.2%	12,249	7.1%
2018–19	4,061,900	30.6%	28,087	28.2%	11,435	66.2%
2017–18	3,111,273	47.3%	21,916	41.3%	6,879	4.4%
2016–17	2,112,150	33.3%	15,508	11.2%	6,591	49.3%
2015–16	1,584,013	32.4%	13,947	26.1%	4,414	15.1%
2014–15	1,196,540	14.5%	11,060	11.5%	5,198	7.2%
2013–14	1,044,127	4.1%	9,902	0.7%	4,849	115.4%
2012–13	1,003,169	1.8%	9,972	3.8%	2,251	34.3%
2011–12	1,021,544	21.8%	10,369	8.6%	3,425	4.5%

Incidents

• On 17 July 2000, Alliance Air Flight 7412 crashed near the airport, killing 60 people.
• On 19 June 2022, SpiceJet Boeing 737 flight SG723 with 185 passengers on-board made an emergency landing at Patna Airport after one of the engines caught fire in a suspected bird hit.