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Jay Prakash Narayan Airport
Airport serving Patna, Bihar, India From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jay Prakash Narayan Airport (IATA: PAT, ICAO: VEPT) is a domestic airport serving Patna, the capital of Bihar, India.[4] It is named after the independence activist and political leader Jayprakash Narayan.[5] It is the 20th-busiest airport in India.[1][6] To meet demand, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working to expand and modernise airport infrastructure. The airport has undergone an ambitious expansion project that includes a new two-level passenger terminal, the new terminal building was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29 May 2025.[7][8][9]
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Overview
The terminal building at the airport is spread across an area of 65,150 square metres and can handle around 1 crore (10 million) passengers annually.
The airport currently has one runway with an asphalt surface measuring 2,072 by 45 metres (6,798 ft × 148 ft),[10][11] which makes it not possible for large aircraft to land.
The airport's international air service to Nepal has been closed since the Indian Airlines Flight 814 was hijacked and taken to Kandahar on 24 December 1999.[12] Since then, the airport does not handle any international operations. The airport is enabled with Digi Yatra facility since July 2024, so that passengers travelling from the airport can avail it for seamless check-in experience and save their time.[13]
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Facilities
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Terminal
The new terminal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29 May 2025.[7][14] The terminal is built by NCC Limited and became operational on 3 June 2025.[15] The two-storey terminal, with arrivals on the ground floor and departures on the first, is built to accommodate 3,000 passengers at peak hours - 1,500 on each floor. Spread across 65,150 square metres, the facility boasts five aerobridges and 13 boarding gates. The terminal houses 64 check-in counters, nine automatic tray retrieval systems (ATRS), Digi Yatri gates for contactless travel, security checks on the first floor and four conveyor belts in the arrivals hall. Annual passenger handaling capacity of new terminal is 1 crore (10 million). The terminal's design pays tribute to Bihar's rich cultural heritage with traditional artwork, murals and carvings. Inspired by the ruins of Nalanda, the building includes an insulated roofing system, LED lighting and heat-minimising glazing for energy efficiency, targeting a 4-star GRIHA eco-rating. The multilevel car park (MLCP) on the city side is also operational from 3 June, offering space for 1,100 vehicles.
Cargo terminal
Patna Airport has a new domestic air cargo terminal, inaugurated on 25 February 2025. This terminal is significantly larger than the previous one, increasing the annual cargo handling capacity from 7,500 metric tonnes to 22,000 metric tonnes. The new terminal is also equipped with a cold storage facility, which is crucial for transporting perishable goods like mangoes and litchis.[16]
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Future expansion
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Due to the sandwiching location between the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan and Phulwari Sharif railway station, the runway of the airport is too short to accommodate larger aircraft. Because of this, and the rising demand and passenger traffic a new terminal has been under construction since October 2018, at a cost of ₹1,217 crore (US$152 million). It will have an area of 65,155 sq.m. (previously proposed as 57,000 sq.m.) from 7,200 sq.m. at present, with five aerobridges, and the apron will be able to handle 14 (11 code C and 3 ATR 72 type) aircraft, which at present can handle only six aircraft. The existing Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower will be demolished once the new tower adjacent to Birla Institute of Technology, Patna campus, becomes operational.
The interior design of the terminal will mostly be inspired by Madhubani art, which is a renowned traditional art form of Bihar, and the ruins of the Nalanda University. The design was created by the Singapore-based firm, Meinhardt and is being executed by the Hyderabad-based firm, Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited (NCC). It will be able to serve more than 80 lakh (8 million) passengers per year (previously proposed as 45 lakh), as compared to only around 30 lakh (3 million) passengers per year at present. Around 13.1 acres of land near the airport is used for its construction, and in lieu of 11.35 acres of land in Anisabad, the airport will be transferred to the Government of Bihar by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), once the expansion works are completed.
The area where the terminal is being built had several buildings, which included the Airport Colony and the IAS Bhavan, which were demolished, and utility buildings like the meteorological Centre and Bihar Flying Club were shifted. Once completed, the existing terminal will be demolished to make way for the expansion and revamping of the apron. The new terminal was expected be completed by 2021, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused lack of labour and resulted in many delays, it was supposed to be completed by the end of 2023. As of December 2024, more than 85% of work has been completed. New terminal building was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 29 May 2025.[7][17] All domestic flight operations were shifted to new terminal on 3 June 2025 after which old terminal building which was serving for more than two decade got decommissioned. [18]
The AAI has planned to develop a civil enclave at the Bihta Air Force Station, 20 km (12 mi) away from Patna, to cater larger aircraft. In October 2016, The Cabinet of Bihar approved the Patna Master Plan, which envisages development of a new passenger terminal at Bihta. The Government of Bihar is acquiring 126 acres of land for construction of the terminal.[19][20][21][22] [6][23][24][25][8][9]
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Airlines and destinations
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Statistics
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As of 2019-2020 data, Patna airport handled more than 40 lakh (4 million) passengers which was the highest ever recorded at the airport before the COVID-19 pandemic.[31] Aircraft movements are currently at 25,501 which also has increased by 18.2% since previous years.[32] Between 2021-22 the Patna Airport also handled 12,409 metric tones of cargo which also increased by 4.6% from the previous years.[33] 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 (2011-2024)
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Accidents and incidents
- On 17 July 2000, Alliance Air Flight 7412 crashed near the airport, killing 60 people.[48]
- On 19 June 2022, SpiceJet Boeing 737 flight SG723 with 185 passengers on-board made an emergency landing at Patna Airport after one of its engines caught fire in a suspected bird hit.[49]
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References
External links
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