The BihtaAir Force Station is an Indian Air Force base in Bihta, Bihar, India. The military airfield, commanded by a Group Captain rank IAF officer, lies 40 kilometres southwest of state capitalPatna and is spread over an area of around 900 acres. In 2016, the Airport Authority of India proposed to develop a civil enclave at the Bihta airbase to serve as a second airport for Patna. The Indian Air Force gave its consent in April 2016 for commercial flight operations from Bihta as a medium-term measure for development air operations from Patna. The terminal building of the civil enclave will have the capacity to cater up to 2.5 million passengers per annum. It will be two-storied, with the ground floor for arrival and first floor for the departure of passengers. The Khagaul-Shivala-Bihta road, which will be broadened to four lanes, will connect the airport with the city. AAI had earlier estimated a requirement of 600 acres of land for the first Phase and another 790 acres for the second Phase in lieu of the existing Jay Prakash Narayan Airport in Patna. In October 2016, Bihar cabinet approved the Patna master plan 2031 which envisaged development of a new airport at Bihta. The Bihar government identified 126 acres of land at Vishambharpur and Kutlupur for construction of the civil enclave. In November 2016, the Bihar cabinet approved a budget of 260 crore for the acquisition of 126 acres of land for the project. The AAI and State Government approved the civil enclave design in July 2019, with construction expected to begin by the end of 2019. The first phase entails a two-stored building covering an area of 25,000 square metres. The civil enclave is expected to be ready by 2022 and will cost of over 500 crores. In the first phase, the terminal building will be equipped with five aerobridges and parking bays for five aircraft. In the next phase, the terminal area will be doubled to 50,000 square metres with five additional aerobridges and five additional parking bays. Of the 126 acres of land acquired by the State government near Bihta airbase, 108 acres will be used by AAI to build the civil enclave while the remaining 18 acres will be used by the State Government for development of amenities, including a VIP lounge, a hotel and a hangar.
