BIAL planning to expand Greenfield project

BIAL planning to expand Greenfield project
Friday July 13 2007 00:00 IST

UNI

BANGALORE: Rejecting the need for a second airport in the city after it is thrown open to Air traffic, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is already planning expansion of the Greenfield project within two years of operation.

Work on the upcoming airport at a cost of Rs 1,930 crore by a consortium of Zurich airport and Singapore besides the Karnataka government and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) was going on a brisk pace and nearly 77 per cent of the work had been completed.

''As planned the airport will be open for traffic in April 2008,'' Bial CEO Albert Brunner told reporters here on Thursday.

On the expansion of aviation growth in the city, Mr Brunner said that the new airport would be in a position to handle 2,200 passengers during the peak hour and it would handle more than 10 million passengers in a year.

''Looking at the growth of the sector in Bangalore, we are planning to take up expansion in two years after the airport was thrown open,'' he said, adding the details were being looked at.

Justifying the concession agreement, which wanted BIAL to be the only airport functional resulting in the existing Hal airport closed to Civil Aviation business, he said the new airport would be able to cater to the growing requirement. ''For the next 20 to 25 years, there will not be any requirement for a second airport,''. Such a necessity could arise if the Air traffic crossed 50 million a year, he added.

He said BIAL would take up work on the second runway in 2013-14. The first runway could handle up to 17 million to 20 million passengers, he added.