Patna airport braces for Cyclone Yaas impact

PATNA: Flight operations at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport is likely to be impacted due to cyclone Yaas. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has put several airports in the eastern region, including

Patna

, on alert.

"Keeping the safety of airport infrastructure and flight operations during inclement weather, the AAI-Patna has taken all the precautionary measures as per the guidelines," said airport director Bhupesh CH Negi. “To handle the situation, we are following the set of standard operating procedure (SOP),” he added.

Officials at Patna airport said all scattered construction materials are covered, banners and hoardings removed from the airport premises.

Drainage lines at Patna airport have been unclogged to ensure no water-logging on the premises. AAI-Patna officials have also reviewed the status of electrical and civil work.

Santosh Kumar, the airport’s deputy general manager (air traffic management), said 4-5 portable pumping sets will be used to drain water from the airstrip and parking bays.

“We are in touch with officials of the Patna Meteorological Centre, and according to them, the city would witness heavy rainfall. Accordingly, we have made preparations to drain out water from airport premises in case of overflowing sewers,” he said.

Santosh said due to the cyclone impact the flight operations would likely get affected so the airlines have to update their passengers about the delays, cancellations and diversions.

On average, Patna airport handles 15-23 flights per day against 48 scheduled flights under its summer schedule. The number of flights has been reduced by the airlines due to low occupancy in aircraft.