HAL airport closure violated due process: Panel

Bangalore: In a damning rebuke to the central government, a parliamentary panel has stated that the closure of HAL airport was a clear violation of the due process.
The department-related parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture headed by Sitaram Yechury said in its report, a copy of which is available with the STOI, "The closure of HAL airport was not mentioned in the tender for Bengaluru Greenfield Airport. Naturally, all the parties who participated in the tender process would have made their offers on this basis only. Making an offer of closure of HAL Airport after the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT), appears to be a clear violation of the due process," the report that was presented to the Rajya Sabha and laid on the table of the Lok Sabha explains.
As regards the restriction on having another airport within 150 km of the existing airport, granting permission to start a new Greenfield Airport within that radius prima facie seems to be in violation of the government policy on airport infrastructure.
As per the policy, if another airport is allowed within an aerial distance of 150 km of an existing airport, a passenger-sharing formula has to be evolved. The government in the present case, not only allowed the new airport to share passengers but also closed down the existing profit-making airports. The closure of existing airports has been done in haste, the report objected.
During the deliberations of committee, the AAI reported that there is absolutely no problem in operating of two airports simultaneously in a city. So, the committee recommends that the old airports may be used for short-haul flights, which are operating from the nearby airports, as it is more convenient.
18/01/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2009