New Bangalore airport to open by May end

New Delhi: The new airport in Bangalore, which is being developed by a Siemens Project-led consortium, will now open in the last week of May, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, announced. The airport promoters had earlier announced that the new airport will open on May 11.

Speaking to the media after a meeting with the airport promoters, the Minister said keeping in mind the observation of the Karnataka High Court, the developers have been asked to see whether the existing HAL airport in the city can also be kept operational.

Earlier this month, the High Court had directed the Union, State Government and Airports Authority of India to renegotiate the closure of HAL airport and levy of user development fee on passengers using the new airport.

At today’s meeting it was suggested that the existing HAL airport be kept open for short haul flights of 30-45 minutes duration that are operated with aircraft seating of less than 80 passengers.

“There are legal issues, contractual obligations and complexities. We discussed all these at the meeting. No decision has been taken but the new Bangalore airport at Devanahalli will be made operational in the last week of May. We will meet again on May 12,” Mr Patel said.

Asked whether the option of keeping both the airports open will also be exercised in Hyderabad, the Minister said that the situation in Hyderabad was different. “The new airport project in Hyderabad has become operational. We will not be holding discussions with the promoters of the new airport in Hyderabad for keeping Begumpet airport open,” Mr Patel said.

The new Bangalore airport, which was inspected by a team from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last week, is yet to be given an operational licence.

Sources indicated that a clear picture on levy of UDF on domestic passengers is likely to emerge in the next three months by when the Centre is expected to firm up guidelines for its levy.