Will present Bangalore airport shut down after new airport opens?

There is an increasing demand in India's IT capital to retain civil flights at the present international airport here even after a new one becomes operational early next year. But the company building the new facility seems to be in no mood to acquiesce.
The new airport is coming up at Devanahalli, about 30 km from the city centre, while the present one run by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is about 10 km away.
The agreement between Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), the builders of the new airport, and the Indian government stipulates that no other civilian airport will be permitted to operate within 150 km of the new one.
But pressure is mounting on the state government not to completely shut down civil operations at the present airport but to retain it at least for short-distance flights.
BIAL, which is building the Devanahalli airport on a build, own and operate (BOO) basis, however, may not be willing to dilute the terms of the agreement.
17/06/07 V.S. Karnic/India eNews.com

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Categories: Airports Jun 2007, New Jun 2007