‘Distance’ shadow looms large on Bangalore airport

Bangalore: Tthe new Bengaluru International Airport, situated in Devanahalli, 40 km away from the main city and a good 70 km from the industry backyard Electronic City, is anything but a passengers’ delight.
The two-hour journey on the Volvo bus, even at 8.30 am when road traffic is still not chaotic, is tiresome. The state-run buses are a must, owing to the distance. A few passengers, first time travellers to the Bengaluru International Airport, looked apprehensive. The airport had waded through many controversies-including PILs seeking retention of old airport, seeking its renaming to “Kempegowda” and higher job allocation for locals-before it was commissioned on May 24 post-mid night.
“The airport looks neat,” said a co-passenger, alighting the bus at one of the 10 bays at the airport, allotted for the state’s Bangalore International Airport Service (BIAS) buses. In addition to the bus bays, the airport’s car parking facilities would accommodate 2,700 cars.
No auto rickshaws are allowed within 5 km of the aerodrome, lessening the traffic and voice commotion to an extent. But it adds to the transportation woes. The Volvos are the only affordable mode of transport from and to the airport. While the Volvo charged between Rs 80 and Rs 200 to the airport, the taxis charged at a rate of Rs 15 per km and a waiting charge of Rs 60 per hour.
At the airport terminal, a Go-Air executive mentioned that the technical issues on the first day had caused much difficulty to the passengers and the airline staff.
Another passenger Thrupthi Nair, who had flown from Chennai to Devanahalli, said the idea of retaining short-hauls at HAL was tempting.
28/05/08 Reema Jose/Financial Express

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Categories: Airports May 2008