Gaya, Jan. 22: The authorities of the international airport have sought permission from the Calcutta-based regional headquarters of Airports Authority of India (AII) to suspend flight operations on safety grounds till the blue bull that entered its premises was caged.

Gaya airport director Samar Kumar Biswas today told The Telegraph: “As soon as we get the green light from the AAI headquarters, the flight operations will be stopped.”

“The safety of international and domestic flights are at stake because the bull strays on to the runway at times,” said a source.

Sources said the animal entered the airport on December 15 last year. A team of forest department officials have been deployed at the airport to catch the blue bull but they have failed to do so.

Biswas said the bull entered the airport after scaling a barbwire fence. It was spotted by Central Industrial Security Force personnel. The district magistrate and the divisional forest officer (DFO) were immediately informed.

DFO Alok Kumar told The Telegraph: “We are trying our best to catch the animal. It has been spotted a number of times but at a distance of 50m or more. So, we have been unable to tranquillise it.”

He added that bushes and shrubs on the airport premises had made their task difficult. “Some of the bushes have been cleared to install runway lights but around 50 hectares has a thick vegetation cover,” Kumar said.

Twenty-five international and domestic flights operate from the airport every week. Flyers can travel to Bangkok, Yangoon, and Colombo. They can also fly to New Delhi, Calcutta and Varanasi from here.