Officials of Airports Authority of India and environment and forest department at Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Residents of the state capital worried over the fate of Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport can breathe easy for now.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Tuesday made it clear that it does not want to close the Patna airport, though it kept options open for reducing the length of its runways because of obstructions such as trees in the Patna zoo.

The civil aviation regulatory authority claimed that it does not want the felling of trees inside the zoo and they were only seeking permission from the state government for pruning.

Manohar Lal Lehkra, the regional executive director of eastern region of AAI, during a visit to Patna on Tuesday, told The Telegraph: “I would like to make it clear that we do not want to cut any tree at Patna zoo. Instead, we are looking for the pruning of several trees that pose obstructions in the aircraft approach funnel.”

He added: “We have already communicated the matter to the state government. Even today we discussed various aspects in this regard in a meeting with officials of the state environment and forest department and a senior official of eastern regional office of ministry of environment and forest, Bhubaneswar.”

On the possibility of closing down the Patna airport, Lehkra said: “There is no possibility of closing the Patna airport. Despite the obstacles, aircraft such as Airbus 320 are operating from here. Therefore, even if the runway length is reduced, the airport would be capable of commercial operations.”

The licence of Patna airport expired on June 30 and the director-general of civil aviation (DGCA) has not renewed the operating licence of the airport yet. “A decision regarding the renewal of the licence of the Patna airport can only be taken after the issues related to pruning of trees at Patna zoo are sorted out,” Lekhra said.

The regional executive director said there were plans to improve facilities for passengers in the next three to four months.

On the state government’s plan to make a new airport in Nalanda, Lehkra said: “There is no issue in making an airport 100km from a city. People come to Patna airport from far-flung places in the state. Distance should not be an obstacle in the construction of an airport.”

Lehkra arrived in Patna on Tuesday, along with P.K. Jain, the general manager of air traffic management, and R.C. Sharma, the executive director (operations). Jain and Sharma are from AAI headquarters in Delhi. The team members also visited Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in the afternoon and held a meeting with officials.