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— Bhagya Prakash K

New flying destination: A view of the departure lounge at Bengaluru International Airport at Devanahalli. The new airport smoothly slipped into business on Friday night. Air India did the honours for the first landing at 10.37 p.m. AI’s Airbus A320, IC 957 with 144 passengers, took off to Singapore at 12.05 a.m. on Saturday signalling Bangalore’s smooth and historic transition to Devanahalli. According to operator Bangalore International Airport Ltd, on Day 1, the airport handled 341 movements including 172 arrivals and 169 departures. Its CEO, Mr Albert Brunner, said: “We are glad that operations and procedures were executed as per expectations.

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Bangalore, May 24 Bengaluru International Airport smoothly slipped into business after getting off the mark at 12.05 a.m. on Saturday.

The national carrier Air India did the honours for the first departure past midnight and the first landing earlier on Friday at 10.37 p.m. Air India’s Airbus A320, IC 957 to Singapore with 144 passengers, took off at 12.05 a.m., signalling Bangalore’s smooth and historic transition to Devanahalli.

Even as the Bengaluru International airport (BIA) came alive, the civil enclave at the HAL airport switched off for scheduled commercial airlines after nearly 50 years of service. HAL air control officials said their hands were full at the twilight hour. The old airport will continue to handle defence, test and small corporate aircraft. Its resumption later is under debate. Operator Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said on Day 1 that the airport handled 341 movements including 172 arrivals and 169 departures. Bangalore has the country’s third busiest airport and BIA is built for an initial strength of 12 million passengers a year.

Its CEO, Mr Albert Brunner, later said, “The moment we have all been working for so long is finally here. We are glad that operations and procedures were executed as per expectations. Our work has just begun. We will strive to set a benchmark for other airports in the country.”

Air India’s flight from Mumbai, IC 609, became the first official aircraft to land on the BIA site at 10.37 p.m, half an hour late. It replaced Jet Airways’ Mumbai flight 9W 477 in a last-hour rescheduling. Air India has 18 flights from Bangalore.

The election code of conduct being valid until May 28, BIAL was initially told not to take in any landings until after midnight. BIAL managed to get around ten empty flights after they dropped off passengers at the old airport. A few 15-30-minute delays, some glitches with the ladder and baggage retrieval were reported but BIAL said these were expected in the early days.

Senior bureaucrats were present at the no-frills opening event. Half a dozen flights were delayed in the midnight switchover.

A senior Airports authority of India official said traffic on the first day was on time “although I cannot say it is all smooth sailing. Day 1 may not be 100 per cent perfect and it takes 10-15 days for all systems to stabilise.”

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