Flights of prosperity

One of the indicators that the Bihar economy is developing is the airline traffic to Bihar. Bihar's Jayaprakash Narain International airport was one of the most under-utilized airport in a state capital of India. Till last year there were a total of 8 landings and take-offs from this airport. Compare this to the airports in Mumbai or Bangalore where there are more than 650 take offs and landings everyday.

But this scenario is slowly changing. Today there are 12 takeoffs and landings taking place from the Bihar airport. However the clincher is the growing number of passengers travelling to and from Patna by air, which has steadily increased in the last few months.

Air travellers to and fro from Patna:

Month	2008	2009	Percentage change
May	32,249	36,007	11.65%
June	28,960	36,731	26.83%
July	26,583	38,778	45.87%
August	21,955	39,256	78.80%
September	23,117	39,696	71.71%
October	27,711	56,049	102.26%

While it will take more time to get all of India's important destinations connected to Patna, I am sure as the pace of the development continues and further accelerates, we will be seeing not only more domestic connections but international flights also taking off from Bihar.

This increasing air traffic from Patna is already generating more interest in the airline industry and we are likely to see more low cost air connections being established between Patna and major cities of India.

Development, isn't it?

Read more details in The Times of India article `Sushasan' effect: Flyers' flow up