Trials for Bangalore airport begin this month

Bangalore: In two-three weeks from now, the new Bangalore international airport will begin the first trials, the airport company has said.

The trials slated for the second half of December will go on in three stages over the next three months till the opening date, March 30, 2008, Bangalore International Airport Ltd said in a release. The work on the nearly Rs 2,000-crore project at Devanahalli began in July 2005 and is headed for completion in 33 months.

The tests would be basic, advanced and integrated, dry-testing all systems. The first flight is to land just before the midnight of March 29 and the first one will take off soon after in the wee hours of March 30.

Currently, the construction and installation of infrastructure on the site are in the final stages. These include the airfield lights at the runway and taxiway, passenger boarding bridges, the baggage handling system and escalators at the terminal building.

The air traffic control block is getting the finishing touches. Also getting commissioned are the street lights, cable checks at the airside service road and the secondary access roads.

Works at the terminal building are nearing completion, including installation of the internal glass partitions, handrails and the external aluminium panel cladding. The other works nearing completion in this building are duty-free areas, cabling work at all the common user terminal equipment check-in counters, installation of the public addressing system, CCTV cameras, antennas and light luminaries. The car park opposite the terminal building is also getting ready.

On the airside, the company has completed major concreting works in the administration building. The landside and airside landscaping works are now in progress. Work on the airside perimeter road and main access road from the city is in progress.