Centre to develop 4 airfields in state as low-cost airports

PATNA: Four airfields in Bihar are likely to be developed as low-cost airports under the Centre’s regional air connectivity scheme, christened Udan, which was launched by Union civil aviation minister A Gajapathi Raju on Friday.
Total 50 airports across the country are proposed to be upgraded under the scheme and the civil aviation ministry is also looking at 350 airstrips to be added to the Udan network.The four airfields in Bihar likely to be included in the Udan list are expected to be Muzaffarpur, Purnia, Raxaul and Forbesganj.
While the airfields at Muzaffarpur, Raxaul and Forbesganj are owned by Airports Authority of India (AAI), Chunapur airbase at Purnia is under Indian Air Force.
“Though the names of the four airfields in Bihar are still to be finalized, they are likely to be Muzaffarpur, Purnia, Raxaul and Forbesganj as per our preliminary assessment,” said a senior AAI official here.
Sources claimed that Muzaffarpur and Raxaul airfields are used quite seldom and their runway length is 4500ft and 5,000ft respectively. Both airfields are mostly used for operation of government aircraft. The airfield at Purnia, on the other hand, is generally used by defence aircraft.
“We have submitted an inspection report to our headquarters around a month ago for development of Muzaffarpur and Raxaul airfields as low-cost airports. Besides, a joint inspection of Purnia airbase was conducted by the Air Force and AAI around six months ago. A civil conclave is proposed to be developed at the airbase for commencing civil aviation operations,” the AAI official added.
Regional air connectivity was one of the promises Narendra Modi-led NDA had made in its election manifesto. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, in his budget speech on February 29, had also said that around 160 unused or underused airstrips would be developed, utilizing funds to the tune of Rs50-100 crore per year. Jaitley had said 10 out of the 15 unused airstrips owned by AAI would be developed during 2016-17 fiscal.
“The low-cost airports will be comparatively smaller airports where the length of runway is to be around 4,000ft. These airports could be primarily used by smaller aircraft with 50 to 60 seats. The overall cost for developing the proposed four airports in Bihar could be around Rs200 crore and it will take not less than three years to develop each of them,” said the AAI official.
Civil aviation experts, however, are of the view that development of low-cost airports would depend on a number of factors, including availability of land, environmental and other mandatory clearances, traffic projections and sufficient funds, among others. The airports would also require support services such as access by roads, water and power supply, security and emergency services like fire services, among others.
There are 21 airfields in Bihar, out of which three — Bihta, Purnia and Darbhanga — are under the Indian Air Force. Nine other airfields are in the category of ‘kaccha and abandoned’ airfields, which include that of Jehanabad and Ara. The rest are under the category of metalled runways having reinforced cement concrete (RCC) airstrips.