The resumption of flights from the Purnea airport in Bihar on Monday brought cheers to the residents of neighbouring districts of Bengal who used to depend on the Bagdogra airport, which is farther away.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new terminal of the Purnea airport and flagged off a flight to Calcutta on Monday. Two airlines have introduced flights from Purnea to Calcutta and Ahmedabad, and another airliner, which will connect to Delhi, will be introduced soon, sources said.

“It is a major development for the residents of North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda, who had to travel all the way to Bagdogra to take a flight. The Purnea airport is closer to these districts as compared to Bagdogra, and resumption of commercial flights from there will definitely help us,” said Atanubandhu Lahiri, general secretary, Raiganj Merchants’ Association.

Balurghat and Bagdogra are around 260km apart. But Purnea is 210km away from the South Dinajpur district headquarters. Similarly, one has to travel around 150km to reach Bagdogra from Raiganj, which is 100km away from Purnea.

Sources said flights used to operate from Purnea in the mid-fifties.

Uzzal Saha, the president of Malda Merchant Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said: “The airport in Purnea will help people of our districts take flights by covering a shorter distance by road. The airport is especially helpful for patients. But we believe that air connectivity in north Bengal can improve if flights are introduced from Malda, which is a longstanding demand of our district.”

Malda is around 220km from Bagdogra and 140km from Purnea.

The traders and people from other walks of life based in places like Dalkhola, a town in North Dinajpur that is on the Bengal-Bihar border and Kishanganj, a bordering district of Bihar, are also elated over the development.

From Dalkhola, the Purnea airport is only 55km away, while Bagdogra is 120km away. On the other hand, one has to travel around 95km from Kishanganj to reach Bagdogra, while Purnea is 80km away.

“We believe the air fares to Calcutta, Delhi and other places from Purnea will be lower than the fare we have to pay to take a flight from Bagdogra. Most of the time, there was a high demand for tickets as the entire north Bengal, Sikkim and parts of Bihar depended on Bagdogra,” said Amit Bajaj, an entrepreneur based in Raiganj.

He pointed out that road connectivity from Raiganj to Barsoi in Bihar would further reduce the distance to Purnea.

“The central and state governments should work together for this road connectivity. Though Barsoi is only 16km from Raiganj, we have to take a turnaround route because of the absence of a proper road and a bridge,” Bajaj added.

The resumption of flight services will give a major boost to Purnea and the surrounding places in the Seemanchal area of Bihar, said members of the business fraternity in Purnea.

“Private investors always prefer sites with air connectivity. We believe the reopening of the airport will boost investments in and around Purnea and lead to infrastructure and economic development,” said Aditya Kejriwal, the general secretary of the Purnia Chamber of Commerce.