The Hindu Business Line : Existing Bangalore airport may cease operations by month-end

New Delhi, May 12 The existing airport at Bangalore is likely to cease commercial operations at the end of the month when the greenfield airport opens on the outskirts of the city.

At a meeting chaired by the Secretary of Civil Aviation, Mr Ashok Chawla, here on Monday, the promoters of the new airport said their legal and contractual obligations would be breached if the existing airport was allowed to remain open.

“At today’s meeting, conflicting views were presented but the general feedback is that having the two airports functioning together is not workable.

“The issue is alive as public sensitivity is involved and the High Court is seized of the matter,” the Secretary said.

The airport is being developed by a joint venture company in which Siemens Projects Ventures, L&T, Unique Zurich airport, Karnataka State Investment and Industrial Development Corporation and the Airports Authority of India are promoters.

Licence soon

The airport, which is likely to be given a licence in the next two-three days by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), will open in the last week of this month, Mr Chawla added.

The ongoing election process in the State was preventing the authorities from announcing the opening date for the new airport just yet, the Secretary said.

Senior State Government officials, who attended the meeting, said that the new airport could open any day after May 23.

“The polling for Bangalore is already over and the remaining phases of polling will be over by May 23,” said a State Government official.

Yechury writes to PM

Meanwhile, the CPI (M) Member of Parliament, Mr Sitaram Yechury, has written to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, seeking his “personal intervention” in keeping the existing airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad open despite the two cities getting greenfield airports.

In the letter, Mr Yechury has called for allowing turbo prop aircraft seating up to 80 passengers to operate to the existing airports in both the cities.

“Since turbo-prop aircraft do not pay landing fees, there is no revenue loss to the new airport operators.

“Further, no turbo-prop operations means less overhead burden on the greenfield airport operators.

“Since there would be no revenue loss, the private operators can easily be persuaded to accept this arrangement,” Mr Yechury has pointed out.

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Existing Bangalore airport may cease operations by month-end