New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that the Darbhanga Airport in Bihar is being expanded under the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme.

“Districts like Darbhanga have a lot of people who travel for work to other parts of India. We are creating connectivity,” Puri told ANI.

“At Darbhanga Airport, earlier, there was no place to park the aircraft. Eventually, the facilities are increasing and by creating a bigger terminal and by getting more land, we will be solving the problems,” the Minister said.

“The land for the development of an airport is to be provided by the state government. The government should give land for the development of the airports as the state government will also get the political dividend and economical benefits,” he added.

Puri further said, “The UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme produced connectivity and affordability. I am 100 per cent confident that the UDAN scheme is a roaring success. We are building another 100 airports. We have more than 300 operational routes which will be increased to 1000.”

Director of the Darbhanga Airport BK Mandal told ANI, “The airport was a need for the people in the district as there are many people who travel across the country for work.”

The city was connected to other cities of the country by air on November 8 last year under the regional connectivity scheme “UDAN”.

The Darbhanga civil enclave built by the Airports Authority of India is poised to become the busiest RCS (Regional Connectivity Scheme) airport.

The number of daily flights has risen from three to six, which is now connecting Darbhanga to major metros including Delhi and Mumbai.

Darbhanga Airport, with a capacity of about 200 passengers, is also equipped with a child care room, baggage x-ray machine, conveyor belts.

The airport has an apron built to park two AIRBUS-320 aircraft.

The airport has benefited people from 17 districts of North Bihar

“Earlier we had to travel to Patna. It was three-four hour traffic. The Darbhanga airport is a blessing for us,” Nidhi, a traveller told ANI.

The authorities are taking care that no COVID-19 norms are violated here. From maintaining social distancing at the terminal, sanitizing passenger baggage, cleanliness is being taken care of at the airport.

UDAN is a regional airport development and “Regional Connectivity Scheme” of the Government of India which was started in April 2017.