Will Bidar airport take off?

Bangalore: The state government’s plans of opening up the Bidar Air Force base for civilian flights have hit a roadblock with the promoters who built the Hyderabad airport raising objections.
Reason: there cannot be two airports within an area of 150-km radius, according to the guidelines issued by the Union civil aviation ministry, with regard to greenfield airports. The Bidar air force base is about 120 km from Hyderabad International Airport.
This is the same principle that did not allow two airports in Bangalore.
The promoter of Hyderabad-based GMR group has written to the Union civil aviation ministry not to allow operation of civilian flights from Bidar. The group said that having another airport within 150 km would violate their agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government.
They have also said that they would suffer losses if the Bidar airport begins operations. However, a spokesperson for the GMR group denied having written any letter to the Union civil aviation ministry. “We are not aware of any such development,’’ he said.
Providing aviation facilities in Bidar is very important for the Karnataka government, as its estimates show that nearly five lakh Sikhs from all over the world will visit the city in November and December.
Their visit will coincide with the Gur Ta Gaddi celebrations, the commemoration of the consecration of the Guru Granth Sahib as the last Guru of the Sikh community, by Guru Govind Singh.
21/10/08 Rishikesh Bahadur Desai/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Oct 2008, New Oct 2008