Patna airport gears up to accommodate choppers

PATNA: Authorities of the city’s Jayaprakash Narayan International (JPNI) Airport are gearing up to accommodate helicopters and private choppers , which will arrive in large numbers during the Lok Sabha election, at the state hangar.

Work has started to create temporary parking space for helicopters and private choppers on the airport premises.

As per the plan, a 6500sq feet parking space will be built in the first phase to accommodate more than 10 helicopters at a time. Santosh Kumar, assistant general manager (air traffic management) at Patna airport , said the temporary structure would be made ready in a fortnight.

The airport officials held a meeting with the engineers on Wednesday to chalk out plans for setting up the temporary structure. The engineers were asked to complete the work within two weeks. The airport has targeted to accommodate at least 31 helicopters at a time.

According to Patna airport officials, the state hangar was handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for construction of apron. “For the time being, it will be used to park helicopters,” said the official.

The temporary parking space will be a boon for the Patna airport which is grappling with space crunch. In 2014 Lok Sabha election, 24 helicopters were accommodated at the airport at a time.

In 2015 state assembly election also, the airport officials had struggled to accommodate helicopters. The BJP had hired 17 choppers, JD(U), RJD and Congress three each and Jan Adhikar Party-Loktantrik (JAP-L) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) one each.

A Patna airport official said the Bihta airbase has the capacity to accommodate around 10-12 helicopters. “We have sought permission from the Indian Air Force to park private helicopters of political parties at the airbase during the election,” the official added.

Patna airport director Rajender Singh Lahauria said elaborate arrangements would be made to accommodate private jets during the election. “The helicopters will be accommodated without causing inconvenience to routine passengers,” he added.