Getting from Jay Prakash Narayan Airport to the city

The new terminal

• Patna's new terminal was inaugurated on 29 May 2025 and opened on 3 June 2025.
• It covers 65,150 square metres, with five aerobridges and 13 boarding gates, and is designed for 10 million passengers a year.
• A multilevel car park takes 1,100 vehicles.
• Anything describing this airport as cramped is describing the old building. The change is recent and substantial.

Getting into Patna

• The airport is about 7 km southwest of the centre.
• Patna Junction railway station is 5 to 7 km away.
• Allow 20 to 35 minutes. The distance is short and the traffic is not, so the range is wide.
• Prepaid taxis, auto rickshaws and app based cabs all operate from outside the terminal.

The runway, and why it matters

• An Indian Railways main line runs along the airport's southwestern edge.
• That makes lengthening the runway impossible without moving the railway.
• The short runway restricts which aircraft can operate here, which is why Patna has fewer long routes than a state capital of its size would otherwise support.
• A second airport at Bihta, west of the city, has been planned for years to get around this. Until it opens, all flights use this airport.