Bihar’s Darbhanga airport crosses 300k passengers’ mark

Airport officials said that the daily average passengers’ footfall at Darbhanga airport has now crossed 2,000-mark after the recent launch of daily flight operations on Hyderabad and Kolkata routes by IndiGo airline.

Passengers’ traffic at Bihar’s Darbhanga airport crossed 300,000-mark in the first fortnight of July since flight operations started here on November 8 last year, as per Airport Authority of India figures.

The sharp increase in passengers’ movement at Darbhanga Airport has also led to chaos as various agencies working at the airport have limited resources. (HT Photo)

As per AAI data, a total of 301,513 flyers travelled to and from Darbhanga airport in 2,168 flights till July 15, 2021 since commencement of flight operations in November last.

“This is a unique feat for any airport in the country launched under Centre’s UDAN scheme (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik), a flagship project to propel regional connectivity,” said an AAI official on the condition of anonymity.

Airport officials said that the daily average passengers’ footfall has now crossed 2,000-mark after the recent launch of daily flight operations on Hyderabad and Kolkata routes by IndiGo airline.

Earlier, SpiceJet was servicing Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmadabad and Kolkata routes.

The lowest number of flights and passengers’ footfall were recorded in January, possibly due to inclement weather and foggy conditions due to lack of instrument landing navigational support system.

So far, 24,917 arrivals in March-- just before the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic struck-- and 27,023 departures recorded in June, have been the highest. In the first 15 days of the current month, the airport handled movement of 248 flights and 32,293 passengers.

Darbhanga Parliamentarian Gopal Jee Thakur said on Friday that the airport was continuously reaching new heights of success since the launch of UDAN scheme.

The sharp increase in passengers’ movement has also led to chaos as various agencies working at the airport have limited resources.

Recently, the Indian Air Force (IAF), which owns this airport, granted a No Objection Certificate (NoC) for acquisition of 78 acres of land for the construction of a permanent terminal building along with a navigation facility. However, AAI has requested IAF to hand over 2.43 acres of land adjoining the interim civil enclave to facilitate movement of more flights for the time being. “We are yet to get a response in this regard”, said an official preferring anonymity.

“Lack of parking facility as well as absence of passenger’s shade from main gate to terminal building is a key issue as far as basic amenities are concerned,” said Manitosh Kumar, a flyer.