B’lore airport flies into saturation zone

B’lore airport flies into saturation zone
Deccan Herald

It is official. Bangalore’s HAL airport is choked. And the authorities there don’t want any airline to operate fresh or additional flights during the peak hours.

It is official. Bangalore’s HAL airport is choked. And the authorities there don’t want any airline to operate fresh or additional flights during the peak hours. Worse, the management itself has expressed grave doubts over safety while operating the airport systems at saturation levels. Making it clear that the airport cannot accept any new schedules during morning and evening rush hours, the Bangalore airport authorities have asked all the domestic airlines operating to and from Bangalore to voluntarily reduce their frequencies during peak hours.

The April 3 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Deccan Herald, says: “At present, HAL Bangalore airport is handling more than 300 movements per day to cater to the unprecedented air traffic growth. The airport has expanded/upgraded the infrastructure of the aerodrome to accommodate this high growth.

“In spite of this, the airport as well as airspace have reached a state of high saturation and each day there are conflicts in air space which are an indication of unsafe airspace. In this scenario, the airport management is not in a position to accept any additional/fresh flights at Bangalore.

“In view of the above, all air operators are urged to take cognizance of the serious safety situation and refrain from asking permission for additional flights at HAL, rather voluntary reduction of flights during peak traffic periods by operators would help air safety.”

Peak hour problem

Airports Authority of India (AAI) sources told this newspaper that space was indeed available during the non-peak hours for the carriers to use the airport. They said: “We just cannot take more flights between 6.30 am and 11 am and 4 pm and 7 pm. Parking bays are not available and waiting periods for flights up to half an hour have become common. There are up to 10 arrivals and departures each during peak hours and it is lack of bays which is the main reason for delays.

The airport has 10 bays including eight regular ones which cater to commercial flights. “We also have to cater to cargo, VIP and other non-scheduled flights. All these lead to delay in passenger flights”. The delay also means added pressure on terminals. The AAI throws up its hands when it comes to laying more bays as it says it was up to the HAL authorities to construct them. As for terminals, AAI bosses say improvements were under way which would bear fruit by May-end.

“AAI will ensure capacity addition to the terminal so the domestic security hold area can seat 600 people instead of the existing 350. Airlines will be asked to install extra check-in counters if they need. International departure’s security hold area capacity has more than doubled from the existing 300 seats”.

The AAI move has angered the airlines. A senior official of a domestic airline said: “We are inducting two aircraft in one month and wanted to base it in Bangalore. Now we are in a dilemma. For, if you have an airport as a base, you have to fly out in the morning to come back again around noon and late evening. Now, if we have to fly out only in non-peak hours, it seriously impacts on our revenues”. Budget airlines could be worst hit in such a scenario as their planes should fly for 12-13 hours a day to be profitable.

This official was annoyed that AAI was holding out the threat of safety for airlines so that they keep off rush hours. “It is AAI’s responsibility to ensure airspace safety. To ensure safety, AAI needs to upgrade its air traffic control and ground systems instead of telling us to worry about safety. How even smaller airports function more efficiently abroad ? If they can do it, why can’t Bangalore?”

However, some airlines already seem to be taking the AAI cue. Paramount Airways, which will make forays to Bangalore skies from April 19, has chosen non-peak hours for its Bangalore-Chennai twice-daily flights.

Kingfisher Airlines, which will base two of its ATR small aircraft in Bangalore, will have to rework on the new schedules to the smaller South Indian cities.