Centre likely to revive three Bihar airfields

PATNA: The Centre has asked Airports Authority of India to prepare a detailed report on Raxaul, Forbesganj and Muzaffarpur airfields which are on “top priority” for inclusion under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS). Of the three, Raxaul and Forbesganj airfields carry high strategic importance as they are located hardly 170 kilometres away from the Chinese border.
Sources on Friday said the detailed report on present condition of Raxaul and Muzaffarpur airfields would be sent to the AAI headquarters in New Delhi latest by next week. “An AAI team would soon visit Forbesganj to inspect the airfield,” said an AAI official, adding that all the three selected airfields are non-operational and owned by AAI.
Sources said the runway length of Raxaul airfield is 1,100 metres and it is spread over an an area of 217 acres. The Forbesganj runway, on the other hand, is 1,525-metre long and spread over an area of 153 acres. Muzaffarpur runway is 1,220-metre long and spread over 100 acres of land.
“The runway length of these three airfields would be increased once the Centre initiates works on their development,” said an AAI official, adding that turbo propeller and Bravo-200 Kingair type of aircrafts with 15-60 passenger capacity could be used for these airfields.
A top official of Indian Air Force (IAF) said Raxaul and Forbesganj airfields are of high strategic importance. “If developed on a larger scale with suitable length, width and load bearing capacity of runway, military aircrafts could also be operated from these two airfields,” the IAF official said, adding that the government would also have to ensure that these airfields, if developed, are not misused.
The AAI official said the airtime from Patna to Raxaul, Forbesganj and Muzaffarpur are 45, 55 and 20 minutes, respectively. “Muzaffarpur airfield terminal was repaired last year before assembly election as Prime Minister Narendra Modi twice used it for rallies,” an AAI official said.
He added that Raxaul airfield has a good connecting road while the one at Muzaffarpur is located near the state highway connecting Bhagwanpur and Patahi.