Govt seeks one more year for HAL airport

New Delhi: Following public pressure and the Karnataka high court’s advice that the Union government examine the option of keeping Bangalore’s existing airport open, the civil aviation ministry has asked the builders of a new airport in the southern metropolis to agree to a proposal allowing short-haul flights use of the current city aerodrome for another year. Short-haul flights account for about one-fifth of the air passenger traffic to and from Bangalore, India’s technology hub.
The new Bangalore airport will be permitted to start operations by end-May, civil aviation minister Praful Patel told reporters after a meeting with senior executives of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (Bial), a Seimens AG-led consortium that is the developer of the new airport at the city’s northern outskirts. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the ministry and officials of the Karnataka government. “We asked them to at least consider some of the options to keep it (the old airport open). Maybe for smaller aircraft and regional connectivity,” Patel said.
Bial is likely to present its views, including potential revenue loss as a result of the new proposal, at a subsequent meeting with the Union and state government functionaries on 12 May.
29/04/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: Airports Apr 2008