HAL airport to shut down

HAL airport to shut down

DH News Service,New Delhi:



Its curtains for the HAL airport. The stakeholders of the new international airport on Monday unanimously agreed that keeping the two airports open in Bangalore was not workable.

As already stated by the government, the new airport, situated at Devanahalli, will be opened before the end of this month.

At the second round of meeting held here on Monday, there was consensus among the equity holders of the new greenfield airport — the Bangalore International Airport Limited, the Karnataka government and the civil aviation ministry besides the airlines which fly to the Garden City — that keeping the existing airport open was not workable.

Speaking to journalists at the end of the one-hour meeting, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said: “Lots of views were expressed in terms of workability of the two airports. The general consensus was that it was not workable. However, the issue will continue to be alive.” Asked why the issue was kept alive, he said: ”We are obliged to inform the Karnataka High Court.”









The meeting was held in the backdrop of the advice given by the court to explore the possibility of keeping both the airports open.

The first meeting, held on April 29, had asked the airport operator BIAL to consider the option of allowing the operation of smaller aircraft from the existing HAL airport.

According to informed sources, the BIAL told the meeting that this option was not possible and that it would go strictly by the contractual obligations that all the stakeholders had signed — that of closing down the HAL airport.
Steadfastly asserting that there was no need for the existing airport to continue, BIAL said at the meeting that the capacity of the airport can go up to 15 million passengers per year even with the current terminal and the single runway.

Interestingly, besides the BIAL, the airlines that the ministry consulted, too were in favour of closing down the existing airport, Chawla indicated. At the last meeting, the Centre’s proposal was on operating the short-haul distances from HAL which means operating planes having capacity of 80 seats or below.

The government was of the opinion that the BIAL would not stand to lose much because the smaller planes don’t pay landing and parking charges. The Monday meeting did not discuss the controversial issue of user development fee to be levied on departing passengers.