The Gaya airport reopened after 20 days on Monday, three days ahead of the runway repair-and-strengthening work deadline.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) made a formal announcement in this regard.

The airport was closed for runway repair-and-strengthening work till November 23. However, the work that was carried out after a gap of 14 years was completed three days before schedule.

Only the re-carpeting work of the runway is left, which will be done in the evening and night after the flight operation is over. Though no flight landed or took off on Monday from the Gaya airport, one or two operations are likely on Tuesday.

As far as the scheduled operation is concerned, Air India will start from November 24. Air India operates for Delhi, Calcutta, Yangon and Varanasi from the Gaya airport.

Sri Lanka-based Mihin Lanka and Bhutan-based Druk Air will start operations from December 1. Other airlines such as Thailand-based Thai Airways and Myanmar airlines would also resume operation shortly.

As it was announced earlier that the repair and strengthening work will be completed by November 23, all the airlines have scheduled their operations and accepted passenger bookings accordingly.

Air India operates a weekly Delhi-Gaya-Yangon flight on Wednesdays, Calcutta-Gaya-Yangon flights twice a week and a Delhi-Gaya-Varanasi-Delhi flight daily.

Apart from Air India, airlines of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Myanmar also operate during the tourist season (October to March).

Mihin Lanka operates between Gaya and Colombo, Thai Airways between Gaya and Bangkok, Bhutan Airlines between Gaya and Paro and Myanmar Airways between Gaya and Mandalay.

Gaya airport director Dilip Kumar said: "We have informed the airlines and the tour operators that the airport is ready for flights. We will give permission to the non-scheduled flight operation also. The flights will be operated between 6am and 3pm everyday. The re-carpeting and the apron work will be done between 3pm and 5am. The runway of the Gaya airport is 2,286m long and 45m wide."

According to the AAI, considering the seriousness and quantum of work, earlier it was proposed to close the damaged runway for 30 days from November 1. However, following a detailed discussion and consultation with the stakeholders, the AAI decided to complete the repair and strengthening work in 23 days.

Activities to carry out the required work were well-planned. The required manpower, material and the equipment were kept ready for execution from day one.

The site execution team worked day and night under the guidance of senior officials. As a result, the work has been completed three days before the deadline, said sources.

Such a runway repair-and-strengthening work at Gaya airport was carried out around 14 years ago. The surface of the runway deteriorated because of normal wear and tear and weather. The surface became rough with stone chips showing up.