City airport to begin full night operations with summer flight schedule | Patna News

Patna’s Jayprakash Narayan International Airport is set for a major upgrade, commencing full night operations from March 29th. The Summer 2026 schedule will see an increase in flight movements to 96 daily, including new direct flights to Navi Mumbai. This expansion aims to boost connectivity and passenger convenience.

Patna: Jayprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna will begin full night operations with the launch of its Summer 2026 flight schedule, effective from March 29 to Oct 24, as per the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA).The airport will commence round-the-clock operations starting with an early morning departure to Pune. IndiGo flight 6E-653 is scheduled to touch down in Patna at 2am from Pune, making it the first flight under the new night-operation regime after the inauguration of the new integrated terminal building of the city airport. The Patna-Pune flight, 6E-126, will depart at 2.55 am for the same destination.The new schedule at Patna airport introduces direct flights to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMI), the recently opened gateway serving the rapidly growing Mumbai metropolitan region. IndiGo has scheduled services such as 6E-2167 leaving Patna at 2.50 pm. Flight 6E-2043 will reach Patna at 2.15 pm. The maiden flight will cover the one-way journey in about 2 hours and 35 minutes.According to airlines’ online booking portals, the fare for Navi Mumbai-Patna is around Rs 8,400-Rs 7,900, while Patna-Navi Mumbai fares are around Rs 8,500-Rs 8,000. The fare may increase further as the Ministry of Civil Aviation decided to withdraw the temporary fare caps on domestic airfares starting Monday (March 23).As per the summer schedule, the airport will now manage 48 arrivals and 48 departures — a total of 96 flight movements. IndiGo leads the pack with 29 daily flights, operating the majority on its Airbus A320neo aircraft. Air India Express follows with eight services, primarily on Boeing 737 aircraft, while Air India contributes six and SpiceJet rounds out the mix with five flights.Presently, the airport handles 38-40 flights per day. The number of flights compared to the previous year is around 6% higher in the upcoming summer schedule.Air India will start a Mumbai-Patna-Mumbai flight (AI-2931/2932), which will touch down here at 7 am and depart at 7.35 am. Air India Express will start a flight on the Delhi route, IX-1346, which will arrive in Patna at 7.30am and depart for Delhi at 8 am.At present, Patna airport has direct connectivity to 11 destinations in the country, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Lucknow and Bhubaneswar. The average footfall at the airport is around 9,000 to 12,000 passengers per day.