Fliers waiting at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport can now avail free Wi-Fi facility at the security hold area as well as VVIP lounge.
The Wi-Fi service is being run on trial mode at present and it is available for 30 minutes in a day.
Airport officials have given the contract for equipping the entire airport terminal with Wi-Fi to Bharti Infratel, which has installed equipment for the same at security hold area as of now.
Another private firm looking after operations of the VVIP lounge has installed the Wi-Fi equipment at the facility.
"Bharti Infratel has been chosen to install the Wi-Fi facility at the airport following the bidding process for the same. As of now, the Wi-Fi facility is being run on a trial basis, under which it is being offered for 30 minutes. Paid service for more usage of Wi-Fi service would start upon its full-fledged operations," said a senior official at Patna airport.
Most major airports in the country, including IGI Airport, Delhi; Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Calcutta, among others provide access to free Wi-Fi for 30-45 minutes and charge mostly Rs 99 for the subsequent hours.
Tata Docomo, Bharti Infratel and BSNL are among the prominent Wi-Fi service providers at the Indian airports.
With regard to working of the Wi-Fi facility, a senior official in Airports Authority of India (AAI) said: "Routers are being installed inside the terminal building at several places, which transmit Wi-Fi signals. Any flier with internet-enabled devices like laptop and cellphones among others would be able to use it. Shortly, the coverage of the Wi-Fi facility would extend across the entire terminal building."
New airport location
The state government is still divided about its opinion on the issue of development of a new airport for Patna.
The urban development and housing department has gone ahead with finalisation of Dumri in Punpun block for development of an airport city as per the new masterplan for Patna Metropolitan Region (PMR).
Earlier, the state government, in its budget for the fiscal year, 2015-16, tabled on March 12, stated that 1,397 acres of land had been earmarked at Silao block in Nalanda for an alternative airport for the existing one at Patna. Both Nalanda and Punpun had figured in the list of prospective sites for setting up a new airport as a substitute for existing airport by the AAI.
The airbase of Indian Air Force at Bihta was the third option considered as an alternative for Patna airport.
A team from the AAI had visited Bihar in October 2009 for inspection of three proposed sites.
While the team had rejected Punpun as a prospective site for being a low-lying area, the team had given first preference to Bihta airbase and second preference was given to Nalanda.
So far as development of the airport at Dumri is concerned, it was decided in a recent meeting between the AAI and senior officials in the state government that the former would conduct a feasibility study on the new airport location. However, the masterplan has been finalised without taking cognisance of such a study.
Asked about the feasibility of the new airport at Dumri, Utpal Sharma, director, Nirma University, who is also an adviser to the Bihar Planning and Development Board, said: "The issues arising out of low-lying topography can be resolved through proper engineering, drainage and use of advanced technologies."
Experts however, claimed that the location of proposed airport at Dumri is not feasible on several grounds.
"Apart from low-lying topography of the earmarked location for the new airport, the state government would also be required to acquire vast expanse of land at the location. Around 4,800 acres of land are required for developing a greenfield airport. The existing airbase at Bihta on the other hand, is spread over an area of around 900 acres," said Atul Singh, executive director of Delhi-based Centre for Aviation, Policy, Safety and Research.
