Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated new terminal building of Purnea airport in Bihar. The newly inaugurated Interim Terminal Building at New Civil Enclave of Purnea Airport is set to enhance passenger handling capacity in the region. Union Minister of Civil Aviation of India Ram Mohan Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, and Deputy Chief Ministers Vijay Kumar Sinha and Samrat Choudhary were also present on the occasion.
Development of Civil Enclave at Purnea airport for Airbus 321-200 type of aircraft was sanctioned in 2015 by the central government. Purnea airport belongs to Indian Air Force (IAF). After Patna and Darbhanga, Purnea is the third airport in Bihar. It is going to benefit passengers from Seemanchal districts of Purnea, Araria, Kishanganj, and Katihar, along with Bhagalpur. The terminal will enhance passenger handling capacity and improve regional air connectivity, which has been a long-standing demand of the Seemanchal people.
Earlier, the Bihar government had announced plans to develop 15 airports to enhance air connectivity in the state. According to the budget presented in the Bihar assembly in March, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 11,500 lakh. Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary had hinted that Purnea airport is expected to begin commercial flight operations within three months after the completion of the terminal building.
Meanwhile, IndiGo and Star Air announced the launch of direct flights from Purnea to West Bengal's Kolkata and Gujarat's Ahmedabad, respectively, on September 15.
Head of sales at IndiGo, Vinay Malhotra said, "We are proud to further strengthen regional connectivity with the addition of Purnea to our network. An emerging centre for trade and industry, Purnea will now have direct flights to Kolkata. Purnea is preparing for the commercial launch of its airport under the UDAN scheme. The introduction of air travel will strengthen the region's infrastructure to support its agriculture and food processing sector as well."