Bumpy road to new Bangalore airport

Bangalore: Even though work on the Bangalore International Airport at Devanhalli, 35 km from the city, is moving at an incredible pace in time for it to be opened on 30 March, the project continues to attract its share of criticism.
The critics, including leaders of the software industry, have been demanding the present airport at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, should continue to function alongside, if only to meet the requirements of the domestic travellers. Additionally, BIAL’s proposal to charge a user development fee for domestic and international passengers ranging between Rs 675 and Rs 955, respectively, has led to a howl of protests.
On the continuation of the HAL airport, the argument is that road connectivity to the new airport remains a major problem. Successive governments have failed to provide the much needed road and proper rail link to the new airport, travelling to which would take a minimum of two hours provided the traffic jams are negotiated successfully.
This explains the chorus for continuation of the existing airport. Otherwise, the IT industry and others affected argue that flying to short distances like Chennai, for example, would become tedious.
The journey back and forth to the new airport would take three times the flight time. For the record, it takes under 40 minutes to fly from Bangalore to Chennai.
23/02/08 Tyagraj Sharma/The Statesman

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Categories: airports Feb 2008, New Feb 2008