Patna airport faces shutdown threat

Patna Airport is facing a shutdown threat after regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has raised concerns over safety issues.

The licence of the Jaiprakash Narayan Airport, which is operated and maintained by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), is set to expire on June 30.

The guidelines of DGCA stipulate that airports have to renew their operating licence every two years after getting the mandatory safety clearances.

DGCA has pointed out that the airport has one of the shortest runways in the country at 6,409 feet. Only 5,061 feet of the runway is in use. The short runway makes it difficult for bigger aircrafts like Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 to operate at the airport.

The airport also faces threat due to the presence of railway cabin and overhead wires that threaten the safe landing of flights at the airport.

Sources told NDTV that the DGCA had earlier issued notices to the Airports Authority of India to clear the minimum safety requirements for operating the airport. The concerns of DGCA have not yet been addressed by the Airports Authority of India.

DGCA met with airlines this week to discuss the safety issues at the Jaiprakash Narayan Airport and has apprised the airlines that the steps that could follow due to the safety concerns.

All scheduled airlines like Air India, Jet Airways, Indigo, GoAir and Kingfisher fly to Patna and, on an average, the airport witnesses over 40 take-offs and landing by these airlines every day. There were nearly 9,500 landing and take-offs at the airport between April 2010 and March 2011.