Good news for the people of Patna. Authorities of the city’s Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport are  getting ready to accommodate helicopters and private choppers, which will arrive in large numbers during the Lok Sabha election, at the state air dock.

Work has started to create temporary parking space for helicopters and private choppers on the airport premises.

As per the plan, a 6500sq feet parking space will be built in the first phase to accommodate more than 10 helicopters at a time. Santosh Kumar, assistant general manager at Patna airport, said the temporary structure would be made ready in a fortnight.

The airport officials held a meeting with the engineers on Wednesday to draw out plans for setting up the temporary structure. The engineers were asked to complete the work within two weeks. The airport has targeted to accommodate at least 31 helicopters at a time.

According to Patna airport officials, the state air dock was handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for construction of apron. “For the time being, it will be used to park helicopters,” said the officials.

According to the reports the temporary parking space will be a boon for the Patna airport which is grappling with space crunch. In 2014 Lok Sabha, 24 helicopters were accommodated at the airport.  In 2015 state assembly election also, the airport officials had struggled to accommodate helicopters.

A Patna airport official said the Bihta airbase has the capacity to accommodate around 10-12 helicopters. “We have sought permission from the Indian Air Force to park private helicopters of political parties at the airbase during the election,”.

Patna airport director Rajendra Singh Lahauria said elaborate arrangements would be made to accommodate without causing inconvenience to routine passengers,” he added.

  Jayprakash Narayan International Airport, Patna