PATNA, July 24 -- After Purnia airport comes into operation in September, Bihar's Raxaul in East Champaran district is next in the pipeline to be developed as a civilian aerodrome for commercial flights, said senior government officials on Wednesday. "The Bihar government has approved 137 acres of additional land and also sanctioned an estimated Rs 209 crore (approx) for land acquisition to develop the Raxaul airport for commercial operations," said chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena while talking to the Hindustan Times. Land acquisition work is presently underway for the Raxaul airport and is expected to be completed in the next six months, said Meena. The Raxaul airport is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) but is not in use for commercial flights. The AAI has conducted a pre-feasibility study to upgrade the airport to handle ATR-72 aircraft. The Raxaul airport has been included in the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), which aims to improve air connectivity to underserved airports. Six small airports in the state, including Madhubani, Saharsa, Birpur (Supaul), Valmikinagar (West Champaran), Munger and Muzaffarpur, are also being developed under the RCS. A letter of intent (LoI) has been issued to Spirit Air LLP, the airline selected by the AAI to operate on these routes. Spirit Air will start flights on various regional routes connecting these airports to Bihta airport in Patna and Varanasi, said officials. "Besides facilitating transportation, air connectivity on these routes is expected to accelerate economic, social and tourism development in these areas. Raxaul is also of strategic importance as it borders Nepal," said Kumud Ranjan of Mamta Travels, an International Air Transport Association (IATA)-approved travel agent in Patna. As part of boosting its infrastructure, Bihar has been focussing to develop the aviation sector by constructing new airports and reducing taxes on aviation turbine fuel (ATF). The state recently reduced value added tax (VAT) on ATF from 29% to 4%, boosting ATF sales by 44% in May and 134% in June as compared to the corresponding months last year, said officials. Commercial flights from the Purnia air force base are expected to begin from September, as work on the interim terminal building is going on in full scale, with the government trying to complete its construction by August. Purnia is likely to get connectivity with Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, as discussions between airline operators and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is at an advanced stage. Work on developing terminal buildings at Bihta and Purnia are in full swing. The launch of the interim terminal building at Purnia and the foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of a permanent terminal building are expected in August. The Bihta civil enclave, however, is expected to be ready by March 2027. Patna will then have two airports within a distance of 30 kms. At present, Bihar has three commercial airports - Patna, Gaya and Darbhanga - for commercial flights. The state government has also approved acquisition of 90 acres of additional land for the Darbhanga airport to extend its runway length and install navigational aids to facilitate night landing facilities by November this year. The Bihar government has announced plans to develop 15 airports, a significant increase from the current three, to boost air connectivity in the state at an estimated cost of Rs.11,500 lakh, according to the budget presented in the assembly on March 3. The Centre, in its Union budget on February 1, had granted in principle approval to three greenfield airport projects at Rajgir, Bhagalpur and Sonepur in Bihar's Saran district....