The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has proposed to develop the Indian Air Force (IAF) Airport at Bihta in Bihar as new airport for international operations and taken up the matter with the Ministry of Defence and Government of Bihar. This information was given by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma in a written reply in Rajya Sabha recently.
It has requested to provide additional land of 600 acres for Phase-I and 790 acres for Phase-II in lieu of existing Patna Airport. AAI has also prepared Master Plans for development of Raxaul and Muzaffarpur airstrips and requested the State Government to provide additional land, removal of obstructions and diversion of road in the approach funnel.
There are total 28 airstrips/aerodromes in Bihar, out of which 5 airports, viz., Gaya, Patna, Jogbani, Muzaffarpur and Raxaul are owned by Airports Authority of India (AAI) . Among these Patna and Gaya airports are operational.
