Present Bangalore airport may not be shut down

New Delhi: The new greenfield Bangalore international airport, will have a traffic capacity of 9 million at its full capacity. But the existing airport already handles 10.5 million passengers annually as per DGCA data. This means there may not be any need for the public interest litigation against the closure of the present airport. According to a civil aviation ministry official, the inability to handle the traffic demand is a good reason to keep both airports going.
The agreement between the government and the airport developer has a 25-year clause that prohibits another airport from coming up till 2033 in Bangalore. A second runway at the new runway at the new airport could solve the isue as the capacity of the airport would rise to at least 40 million passengers annually. Air passenger traffic at Bangalore rose by 46% in the past five years against the country’s average of 32%. The airport was initially planned keeping 1999 traffic projections in mind but the unprecedented growth in the country’s aviation sector has led to some significant rethinking of the developer’s plans.
The official said government could renegotiate the agreement signed with the developer.
15/04/08 Shauvik Ghosh/Financial Express

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Categories: Airports Apr 2008