Devanahalli airport named after city

Devanahalli airport named after city
The Times of India

New Delhi/Bangalore: The issue of what to call the under-construction international airport at Devanahalli has been settled. The Karnataka government has suggested that it be called Bangalore International Airport and the Centre has accepted this.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel said: “Karnataka has suggested this name. As a matter of general policy, the name of the city is retained for naming the airport since passengers and visitors in general, and foreign tourists in particular, find it easier to identify the airport when it is named after the city it services.’’
There were various suggestions to name the airport after Bangalore’s founder Kempe Gowda, former PM H D Deve Gowda, former king of Old Mysore — Tiger of Mysore Tipu Sultan and so on. But the Bangalore international airport limited’s board was said to be in favour of just calling it after Bangalore and not giving it a name, like the Chatrapathi Shivaji international airport in Mumbai.
The new airport will be open for operations within 13 months from now, Patel said in the written reply, giving the start date for commercial operations as April 2, 2008.