Flight operations from Darbhanga to begin soon

New Delhi: The prolonged wait for an airport facility in the Mithilanchal area is likely to end soon as the re-carpeting work of the Darbhanga airbase is in its final stage. The airport will be operational from December this year.

Flight operations from the Darbhanga airport under the UDAN scheme of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation was initially slated to commence from August this year, but due to floods and the monsoon situation, the project was stalled.

Once operational, the Darbhanga airport will be a gift to more than 10 districts of Bihar and the Tarai region of Nepal. The districts benefitting from the Darbhanga airport include Madhubani, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Jamui, Khagaria, Lakhisarai, Madhepura, Saharsa, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Supaul, besides others.

The re-carpeting work of the Darbhanga airport is being carried out by a private firm and is being supervised by K.S. Vijayam, director of the Patna airport. “Re-carpeting work of the Darbhanga airport got delayed due to the bad weather and is now on in full swing. We are expecting that the construction work will be completed soon and airport is likely to be operational from this year end,” Vijayam told The Sunday Guardian.

According to a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official, the expenditure for the re-carpeting work of the Darbhanga airport is being shared by the Central government and the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government. The total allocation of funds for the re-carpeting work was Rs 201 crore, out which Rs 80 crore was given by the Central government.

An AAI official, who did not want to be named, told The Sunday Guardian: “Initially, the Darbhanga airport will be open for passenger flights and commercial operation will start later. The nod for the operation of low-cost airlines has already been given and SpiceJet is slated to fly from December this year from Darbhanga airport to Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. After completion of re-carpeting work, the Darbhanga airport will have a capacity to handle 300 passengers at a time.”

On the reason behind the delay in the operation of commercial flights, the same AAI official cited above said: “Commercial operations will take time as it requires parking area, cargo terminal, among other facilities, and work for the same infrastructure is underway.”