'Short runway': Aviation Minister explains why no international flights from Patna airport

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday explained that Patna airport is technically open to international operations but cannot support them effectively due to a short runway - a key reason why regular international flights haven’t started yet.

“Patna airport is open to international operations, but there is a fundamental problem with the short runway,” Naidu said while speaking in the Rajya Sabha. “Because of the shorter runway, there is a load penalty that applies to the aircraft through which they are not able to run with operational efficiency. There are alternative solutions being worked out.” 

The minister's remarks come amid growing demand for international connectivity from Bihar’s capital. Due to the limited runway length, airlines are unable to operate long-haul or fully loaded flights, making international services commercially unviable at the moment.

Sharing details on Air India crash, Naidu told the Rajya Sabha that complete details from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the AI171 flight are available. He said that the final report on the plane crash will include all the findings.

The plane crash in Ahmedabad claimed the lives of 260 people, including passengers, crew, and people on the ground.

"We have the complete details from the cockpit voice recorder. All the findings will be included in the final Air India crash probe report. The report will be based purely on facts, with no bias whatsoever," Naidu told the Upper House on the first day of the Monsoon session.

The minister also said that what exactly happened on the fateful day would come out only after the final probe report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) — an independent body under the civil aviation ministry —  is out.

He further said that the AAIB follows a definitive, rule-based process and has remained totally unbiased in probing the crash. Naidu mentioned that the AAIB has successfully decoded the data from the black boxes of the AI 171 flight.