8 landings before first flight

8 landings before first flight
By Rasheed Kappan, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Marking a decisive shift in its status, the Bengaluru International Airport will become "operational" with the first flight set to take off exactly at midnight on March 30.

But even before this “international” first flight, a domestic airliner will record the airport’s maiden landing anytime after 8 pm on March 29.

Seven more landings will follow this first touchdown, before midnight. For the HAL Airport, the shift will be abrupt. The curtains will fall right after 8 pm on March 29, the deadline set for all landings to cease there. “All flights after 20.00 hours will land at Devanahalli. The new airport will have to handle seven to eight domestic landings and 16 international flight landings before the morning of March 30,” an official at HAL Airport said.

With 25 landings and take-offs scheduled between 8 pm on March 29 and early morning on March 30, Bengaluru International Airport will feel the pressure from day one. Not less than 4,000 passengers are expected to experience the new airport in the first few hours of its operation.

Almost seven weeks ahead of its formal launch, BIAL has already advised air passengers to contact different airlines on their March 29 schedule. If their flight lands after 8 pm, they could be in for an entirely new experience, and a different road journey to their home or hotel, 40 kilometres away in Bangalore.

Despite demands to retain the HAL Airport at least for domestic flights, the new airport’s operationalisation would mean an end to the old aerodrome. “It will be an absolute shutdown for HAL airport, and an absolute opening for the Bengaluru International Airport,” said a BIAL spokesperson.