The Bihar government has accelerated the process of starting direct air services to foreign countries from two major cities of the state, Patna and Gaya. For this, a formal tender has been issued so that domestic airline companies can start their flights on these routes. This step will not only boost tourism, but the journey will now become very easy for the people of Bihar who work in Gulf countries. The government has made the new Destination Policy 2025 the basis for this.
On which routes will the flights run and what is the schedule?
Civil Aviation Department of Bihar has started the official tender process on 26 March 2026. In the initial phase, flights will be operated from Patna to Kathmandu and Gaya to five different international cities. This will greatly benefit tourists who follow Buddhism and expatriates going abroad for work.
There will be direct flights from Patna to Kathmandu. There will be flights from Gaya to Sharjah, Bangkok, Colombo, Singapore and Kathmandu. Companies will have to provide service for at least 2 days and maximum 7 days a week. The pre-bid meeting will be held on April 7 and tenders can be submitted till April 15, 2026.
Subsidies received by airlines and aircraft capacity
To make this scheme successful, the government has also announced to provide financial assistance to the airline companies so that they can start flights without any financial fear. For this, the amount has been fixed according to the capacity and route of the aircraft.
Route Aircraft Capacity Government Subsidy (per round trip) Patna – Kathmandu 150 seater Rs 5 lakh Gaya – Sharjah/Singapore 150 seater Rs 10 lakh Gaya – Bangkok/Colombo 150 seater Rs 10 lakh Gaya – Kathmandu 150 seater Rs 5 lakh
The special thing is that the Bihar government has reduced the tax on aviation fuel (ATF) to just 1%. This will reduce the operating expenses of airline companies. Nilesh Ramchandra Devre, Special Secretary, Civil Aviation Department, said that these destinations have been selected keeping in mind the crowd of tourists and the number of migrants from Bihar. Initially this financial assistance will be given for six months.
