PATNA: The tag of having one of the riskiest runways (barely 1954m long) notwithstanding, the city’s Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport has emerged number one in 2009-10 among 46 airports in the country in terms of percentage growth of domestic passengers as well as domestic aircraft movement.
According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) figures, the Patna airport handled 5,52,542 domestic passengers in 2009-10, which was 60.4 per cent more than the corresponding figure of 3,44,446 passengers for 2008-09. Amritsar airport with a domestic passenger growth rate of 51.8 per cent during this period stood second followed by Dibrugarh with a corresponding figure of 47.4 per cent growth.
The percentage growth apart Patna airport also fared well in terms of total number of passengers and overtook airports in Port Blair, Varanasi, Bagdogra, Vadodara, Jammu, Raipur, Agartala, Chandigarh and Madurai during the period.
On the domestic aircraft movement front too, Patna airport registered a 42.8 per cent growth rate in 2009-10, the highest in the country. The airport handled 7,456 flights compared to 5,220 flights in 2008-09.
Amritsar airport with a growth rate of 33.9 per cent on this front stood second followed by Jammu and Srinagar airports, both of which recorded a growth of 21.88 per cent in domestic aircraft movement.
With no further scope of increasing the runway length which, otherwise, would have attracted more operators and the delay in getting clearance from the state government for setting up a new airport, one really wonders the reasons behind this success story.
According to Patna airport director Arvind Dubey: “Introduction of low-cost carriers, an increasing number of well-to-do Biharis settled outside Bihar who are fly to their native state and an improved law and order condition are the main contributors to this success story.”
There appears logic in his claim as low-cost carriers like Kingfisher Red, Jet Konnect and IndiGo are offering daily flights to major destinations like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata making things easy for those opting for aerial routes.
Aviation industry sources said increased economic activities in Bihar and investment opportunities too have contributed in a big way to this success story as many non-Biharis who earlier hesitated visiting the state are now coming here to explore business opportunities.