High Court declines to interfere with closure of HAL Airport

Bangalore: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday declined to pass an interim order directing the Union Government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) not to close down the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) Airport for commercial civil aviation operations in Bangalore.
It, however, directed the Union and State governments and the AAI to immediately consider its suggestion to renegotiate with Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), promoters of the new international airport at Devanahalli, the two issues of closure of HAL Airport and levy of user development fee (UDF) on passengers, in the public interest.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice Ravi Malimath passed the order on several public interest litigation (PIL) petitions challenging the closure of the HAL Airport for commercial civil aviation operations and levy of UDF by BIAL on domestic and international passengers.
The petitioners contended that the HAL Airport would be closed for commercial operations once the Bangalore International Airport became operational.
17/04/08 The Hindu

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Categories: Airports Apr 2008, New Apr 2008