--- iata: PAT name: Jay Prakash Narayan Airport city: Patna country: India lastUpdated: '2026-09-08' officialWebsite: 'https://www.aai.aero/en/airports/patna' sources: - 'https://www.aai.aero/en/airports/patna' - 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Prakash_Narayan_Airport' - 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_airports_in_India' - >- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/a-glimpse-of-changing-bihar-flyers-feel-as-new-terminal-at-patna-airport-begins-operations/articleshow/121599962.cms - >- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/new-terminal-fails-to-lift-patna-airport-traffic/articleshow/132335554.cms - >- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/seamless-check-in-digiyatra-launched-at-9-more-airports-check-list/articleshow/113121369.cms - >- https://www.financialexpress.com/business/airlines-aviation-digiyatra-facility-launched-at-visakhapatnam-patna-and-seven-other-airports-check-full-list-here-3603231/ - >- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/govt-plans-metro-connectivity-between-patna-junction-and-airport/articleshow/117864677.cms - 'https://www.prioritypass.com/en-GB/lounges/india/lok-nayak-jayaprakash' - >- https://www.prioritypass.com/en-GB/lounges/india/lok-nayak-jayaprakash/pat1-uttham-lounge quickFacts: - >- Jay Prakash Narayan Airport (IATA PAT / ICAO VEPT; also styled Lok Nayak Jayaprakash / Jayprakash Narayan International Airport in some directories) is Bihar’s capital-city civil gateway on a compact urban campus about 5–7 km southwest of Gandhi Maidan / Patna Junction. Owner and operator is the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Official AAI passenger page: https://www.aai.aero/en/airports/patna. Screenshot PAT (VEPT) ≠ GAY (Gaya) ≠ DBR (Darbhanga) ≠ IXR (Ranchi) — the wrong Bihar / Jharkhand IATA is a multi-hour road day, not an airside hop. - >- One new two-level integrated passenger terminal (~65,150 m²; NCC Limited) was inaugurated on 29 May 2025 and took all domestic flight operations on 3 June 2025; the old ~7,200 m² terminal was then decommissioned and later demolished for apron expansion. Arrivals sit on the ground floor; departures and CISF / DigiYatra processing sit on the first floor. Published peak design is about 3,000 simultaneous passengers (1,500 per floor), 64 check-in counters, five aerobridges, 13 boarding gates, and a multilevel car park for ~1,100 vehicles. There is no second passenger terminal to transfer between. - >- Traffic (AAI annexes as compiled on Wikipedia for April 2025–March 2026 / FY 2025–26): 4,386,376 passengers (+14.8%), 31,075 aircraft movements (+19.6%), 11,298.3 tonnes of cargo (+23.7%). That put PAT around India’s 17th-busiest passenger airport for the year in the AAI busiest-airport table. Early FY 2026–27 monthly prints (e.g. ToI on May 2026) show the bigger hall has not automatically lifted every month’s traffic — Bihar’s newer options at Gaya / Darbhanga / Purnia also compete. Prefer AAI annex PDFs when auditing. - >- Airfield (Wikipedia / public technical summaries for VEPT): single runway 07/25 — 2,072 m × 45 m asphalt; aerodrome elevation about 52 m / 171 ft. The strip is hemmed in by Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan and the Phulwari Sharif railway alignment, so meaningful runway extension at this site has repeatedly failed — the short length is why scheduled international operations have stayed offline since the Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijack era (Nepal service closed after 24 Dec 1999). DigiYatra was part of the AAI nine-airport biometric launch on 6 Sep 2024 (ToI / Financial Express; Wikipedia also notes July 2024 enablement language) — domestic facilitation only. - >- Lounges (live Priority Pass Lok Nayak Jayaprakash / PAT directory, checked Sep 2026): one soft room — Uttham Lounge (Main Terminal domestic; airside after security, 1st floor; published 06:00–23:00 daily; max stay 2 hours; children under 5 free on PP conditions). Cold buffet / soft drinks / snacks / Wi-Fi / air-conditioning / digital card / flight information / disabled access are listed. Live PP soft directory = Uttham only — a separate Zesto Executive Lounge URL no longer resolves to a live lounge page (redirects to the India country index); do not invent Plaza Premium / Chanakya soft pins from aggregator mirrors. - >- Ground: the campus is one of India’s more central Tier-2 airfields — prepaid taxi in arrivals plus Ola / Uber when signed remain Plan A (~15–35 minutes to Gandhi Maidan / Patna Junction in normal traffic). BSRTC city buses are the daylight budget tool. Phulwari Sharif / Patna Junction / Patliputra Junction are separate road transfers — there is no passenger rail platform inside the terminal. Patna Metro airport connectivity is still a feasibility / DPR story (RITES study via Nehru Path cited in Jan 2025 ToI), not a live station. bentoTips: - label: Timing title: >- New hall helps — short runway, Chhath banks, and DigiYatra still decide your buffer detail: >- DigiYatra can shrink domestic entry / CISF / boarding for enrolled Indian nationals when e-gates are staffed (AAI nine-airport launch 6 Sep 2024), but PAT remains a single 2,072 m runway with dense IndiGo-heavy domestic banks and festival spikes (especially Chhath). Domestic ~2 hours early is the sane default; do not invent an international buffer for a metal that does not exist — scheduled international ops are still offline. Uttham’s Priority Pass window publishes 06:00–23:00 with a 2-hour max stay, so a 05:00 push or a late overnight bank will not find the soft room open. summary: >- DigiYatra and a short city hop help; one short strip plus festival banks still need real buffers. category: timing - label: Terminal title: One new integrated shell — ignore old-terminal blog maps detail: >- There is no T1/T2 campus hop. Everything moved into the May/June 2025 two-level hall (arrivals GF / departures 1F). Old-terminal wayfinding, “cramped SHA” war stories, and stale Zesto lounge pins belong to a decommissioned building. Screenshot PAT ≠ GAY ≠ DBR ≠ IXR before the car leaves Boring Road / Gandhi Maidan / Kankarbagh / Danapur. Live Priority Pass pin is Uttham after security on the 1st floor — follow SHA signs, not aggregator floor plans drawn for the demolished shell. summary: One 2025 building; boarding-pass sector signs beat any pre-June blog map. category: terminal - label: Food title: >- Uttham soft lounge if entitled — otherwise landside sealed water before CISF detail: >- Live Priority Pass product is Uttham Lounge (Main Terminal domestic airside after security, 1st floor; 06:00–23:00; max 2h; children under 5 free). PP lists cold buffet, soft drinks, snacks, and Wi-Fi among facilities — do not assume complimentary alcohol. Without entitlement, buy sealed water and snacks landside before CISF; airside markup is the usual Indian-airport tax and F&B depth is still bedding into the new retail mix. Ignore Zesto / Chanakya / Plaza Premium names that no longer match the live PP directory. summary: One PP soft room; landside bottles still beat airside pricing. category: food - label: Access title: Prepaid taxi / app cab Plan A — no terminal metro yet detail: >- Use official prepaid taxi counters in arrivals or signed Ola / Uber pickup for the short Shaheed Pir Ali / Bankipur–centre run (often ~15–35 minutes in normal traffic; city fares commonly land in a few-hundred-rupee band — confirm the board / app quote). BSRTC city buses toward Gandhi Maidan / other nodes are the daylight budget tool when signed. Patna Junction, Patliputra Junction, and Phulwari Sharif need separate road transfers. Late nights default to prepaid / app cabs. Do not invent a live metro or airport rail platform from UDHD / RITES feasibility coverage. summary: Short road access only; metro remains a planning story. category: status lounges: - name: Uttham Lounge zone: >- Airside domestic departures — Main Terminal after security checks, 1st Floor (Priority Pass pat1-uttham-lounge). hours: '06:00-23:00' access: - Priority Pass / LoungeKey / DragonPass (confirm live PP listing) - Eligible Indian premium credit-card programmes that list this lounge pin - Paid walk-up when the operator offers it (confirm desk) bestFor: - Domestic departures with Priority Pass inside the 2-hour max-stay window - Travellers clearing CISF who want a soft-lounge sit before boarding summary: >- Live Priority Pass soft lounge for the Main Terminal domestic product. Published hours 06:00–23:00 daily; location is departures after security on the 1st floor. PP conditions list a maximum 2-hour stay, children under 5 free, digital card accepted, air-conditioning, cold buffet, soft drinks, snacks, Wi-Fi, flight information, newspapers/magazines, and disabled access. Do not treat stale Zesto Executive Lounge URLs or aggregator Chanakya / Plaza Premium pins as live soft rooms — the Sep 2026 airport directory lists Uttham only. verdict: worth-it terminal: Main Terminal (Domestic) amenities: - >- Air conditioning / digital card accepted / flight information / Wi-Fi / cold buffet / soft drinks / snacks listed on PP - Maximum 2-hour stay on PP conditions - Children under 5 admitted free on PP conditions - 'Published 06:00–23:00; soft-lounge product (confirm desk)' waterOptions: - kind: purchase name: Landside sealed water (check-in / departures hall) zone: landside price: >- Typical Indian-airport sealed-bottle markup — confirm shelf tag (often roughly ₹40–80) summary: >- Best default hydration play — buy sealed water landside before CISF so you are not hostage to airside café pricing after a Patna road transfer. location: >- Convenience and café kiosks in the integrated terminal departures / check-in hall before security / DigiYatra entry terminal: Integrated Terminal landside isBestValue: true - kind: purchase name: Airside retail water zone: airside price: Higher than landside — confirm shelf tag summary: >- Markup backup once you are through security; fine for a top-up, poor as Plan A. location: Post-security café and retail units toward domestic gates / SHA terminal: Integrated Terminal airside - kind: free name: Uttham Lounge drinks (entitlement only) zone: airside summary: >- Soft drinks with accepted Priority Pass entitlement only during published 06:00–23:00 hours — not a public fountain. Do not assume complimentary alcohol from the PP facility list. location: >- Uttham Lounge, Main Terminal domestic airside after security, 1st floor, during published hours terminal: Main Terminal (Domestic) airside isBestQuality: true airportistScore: 6.8 slug: pat region: Asia-Pacific --- > Markdown for [/airports/pat](/airports/pat). Append `.md` to any page URL (or send `Accept: text/markdown`) for an agent-readable copy. - [HTML page](/airports/pat) - [Lounge directory](/airports/pat/lounges.md) - [Sitemap](/sitemap.md) # Jay Prakash Narayan Airport (PAT) Patna, India · Asia-Pacific Brand-new AAI domestic hall close to the city with DigiYatra and one Priority Pass soft lounge — undermined by a stubbornly short single runway, no scheduled international ops, and festival congestion. ## Airportist Score **6.8 / 10** Weighted sum of the six published categories (no holistic fudge). - Ease of use (25%): 7.4 — Wayfinding, security wait, and layout. - Comfort & amenities (20%): 7.0 — Seating, Wi-Fi, cleanliness, and quiet. - Food & retail (15%): 5.8 — Food and retail quality and variety. - Ground access (15%): 8.2 — Transit, taxi, and parking to the city. - Reliability (15%): 5.6 — Delays, cancellations, and weather resilience. - Lounges (10%): 6.2 — Worth-it density and access quality. ## At a glance - Passengers: 4.4M (AAI FY 2025–26) - Terminals: 1 integrated (opened Jun 2025) - Typical security: 18 min - On-time: 72% - Disruption: minor ## Best for - Domestic trips to/from Patna with a short city transfer - DigiYatra-enrolled Indian nationals on IndiGo-heavy banks - Priority Pass holders inside Uttham’s 06:00–23:00 window - Travellers connecting onward by road to Bodh Gaya / Nalanda / Rajgir ## Watch out for - Short 2,072 m runway — no scheduled international flights - Chhath and other festival banks overwhelm the single strip - Stale blogs still describing the demolished pre-2025 terminal - No terminal metro — inventing one from DPR coverage will strand you ## More intel - [Lounge directory](/airports/pat/lounges.md) (free) - [Getting there](/airports/pat/getting-there.md) (free) - [Amenities](/airports/pat/amenities.md) - [Traveler tips](/airports/pat/tips.md) - [Water](/airports/pat/water.md) - [Full guide](/airports/pat/guide.md) - [Disruptions](/airports/pat/disruptions.md) - [Reviews](/airports/pat/reviews.md)