“…While the state government is proactive in its approach to create a favourable infrastructure and support facilities for air connectivity to improve, the airline companies continue to cancel scheduled operations at short notices. The attitude of the airlines created a lot of doubts and confusion in the minds of the passengers affecting the demand creation at important airports like Gaya and Darbhanga.”
— S Siddharth, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Bihar
Talking at a conference on the promotion of the Civil Aviation in Bihar organised by FICCI in Delhi, S Siddharth, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Bihar, said that while the state government was proactive in its approach to create a favourable infrastructure and support facilities for air connectivity to improve, the airline companies continued to cancel scheduled operations at short notices. Siddharth said that the attitude of the airlines created a lot of doubts and confusion in the minds of the passengers affecting the demand creation at important airports like Gaya and Darbhanga.
Siddharth said that the state government wanted consistency in service from the operators. He also said that the state understood the importance of airport connectivity for both industrial as well as for tourism growth, and was doing everything possible to create and upgrade the airport infrastructure and connectivity, reported ETTravelWorld.
“The state is ready to provide all kinds of support for investors including approvals within 24 hours. …We are ready to foot the bill for infrastructure, bear airport charges, foot your ATF.”
The state was keen to set up heliports in all districts in the state where there were no operational airports. Heliports would be set up at all important tourist destinations as well, he said. In the absence of a well-developed aviation infrastructure, investors were reluctant to move or look beyond the capital city Patna for any project, he said. “We don’t want this to continue,” he said. The airport infrastructure in Gaya was underutilised. In place of nine flights in the prepandemic period, only two flights operate to Gaya currently, he said.
He said that there was potential for 8 more airports to be developed in the state, apart from the Purnea airport for which work was going on. He said that the state was ready to provide all kinds of support for investors including approvals within 24 hours. “We are ready to foot the bill for infrastructure, bear airport charges, foot your ATF, ” he said.
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