DGCA warns Bihar on flight safety issues at Patna airport

Aviation regulator DGCA has warned Bihar government to take urgent steps to upgrade flight safety at the Patna airport or else it will have only small aircraft operating from there.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation wrote to the state government recently after a team of United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) visited the airport and expressed concern that it was in operation despite not getting a license from the DGCA.
This was disclosed by Civil Aviation Secretary K N Shrivastava at a State Civil Aviation Ministers conference here today.
An airport is allowed to function only after it gets a license. The licensing process, which was started in 2006, requires DGCA to evaluate the existing facilities, equipments and all issues relating to air safety at an airport before assessing the application for an aerodrome license.

There are currently 66 licensed airports in the country, apart from 20 more private airports and heliports, as of June 30 this year.
The regulator, in its letter, also warned the state government that it could be forced to allow only small planes, which can carry up to 70 passengers, to operate to Patna. Major domestic airlines now fly large jets which have a seat capacity of 120 and above to Patna.
While carrying out its safety audit, the DGCA had found deficiencies in a number of areas at the Patna airport. These included the fact that it did not have the requisite area on both sides of the runway which is mandated by the DGCA to ensure flight safety. It had then asked the authorities to rectify all these issues.