Exciting news for Muzaffarpur! The airport is poised for a significant enhancement with a Rs43.13 crore investment aimed at revamping its runway and airside facilities. Falling under the government’s UDAN initiative, this upgrade seeks to improve regional connectivity, lessen dependence on other airports, and invigorate both tourism and local job markets.
Patna: Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary announced that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) issued a tender worth Rs43.13 crore for the construction of the runway and related airside infrastructure at the existing airport in Muzaffarpur.
He said this step will reduce dependence on Patna and Darbhanga airports while generating employment and promoting tourism in the region.Under this tender, Muzaffarpur airport will be upgraded to handle Code-2B category aircraft through the construction and strengthening of the runway, taxiway, apron, perimeter road, Ground Support Equipment (GSE) area, vehicular lane, emergency access road, Runway End Safety Area (RESA), runway basic strip, and other associated works.
This project marks a crucial step towards connecting Muzaffarpur directly with major cities across the country.The deputy CM described the airport as a major gift from the double-engine govt led by PM Narendra Modi at the Centre and CM Nitish Kumar in Bihar, benefiting the people of Muzaffarpur, surrounding districts, and the entire south Bihar region.This latest airside development tender, published on Feb 13, 2026, complements an earlier one issued in Oct 2025 worth approximately Rs28.58 crore, which focused on building a prefabricated steel-structure terminal, a pre-engineered ATC (air traffic control) tower, a fire station, and other ancillary buildings and facilities.
That tender by the AAI remains under evaluation and is likely to be awarded in the next 15 days.
The construction would be completed in 11 months once the agency is selected for the work.Spread across 99.4 acres at Patahi, Muzaffarpur airport holds historical importance but has remained largely underutilised for decades. It previously operated flights to Patna between 1967 and 1982 before ceasing commercial services.The project aims to revive the airport by enabling commercial operations with smaller regional aircraft such as 19-seaters. Once operational, the upgrades are expected to significantly enhance regional air connectivity under the Centre’s UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.According to AAI officials, the new prefabricated terminal building will be constructed on an area of 1,250 square metres. The existing airport features a 1,050-metre-long runway and two parking bays suitable for Code-2B aircraft.
The current apron will be demolished and replaced with a new one that will maintain the same two parking bays for commercial flight operations. Officials confirmed that no additional land will be needed to accommodate operations with smaller aircraft.The upgrades align with broader efforts under the UDAN scheme to revive smaller airports. The plan gained momentum after high-level approvals, including a June 2025 Bihar cabinet decision—chaired by the CM—to approve an MoU between the state govt and AAI for developing six small airports: Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Birpur (Supaul), Munger, Valmikinagar (West Champaran), and Saharsa.
