Sindhu Bhattacharya

New Delhi: The new Bangalore airport is expected to open by the month-end but there is no firm decision yet on whether to keep the old, HAL airport also open simultaneously.

The closure of HAL airport has generated much heat over the last few weeks, prompting the Karnataka High Court to ask all airport stakeholders to meet and devise a way to keep the old airport also open.

But in a curious twist to the twin airport saga, international passengers would have to pay a little over Rs 1,000 in cash as user development fee for using the new airport till June this year once the facility opens.

When the first meeting between civil aviation ministry officials and Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) developers led by Siemens took place earlier this month, the government had asked Siemens to consider permitting small, less than 80-seater aircraft to fly from the HAL airport to promote regional connectivity.

But today, civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla said that no decision has been reached just yet on whether to keep HAL airport open for commercial operations.

“The airport developer does not find it a feasible option. In our separate discussions with airlines the general feedback was that keeping old airport open is not very workable… The new airport will open later this month but the issue of keeping the old airport open would remain alive.”

Chawla referred to reports that the new airport may be unable to handle even the current traffic volume, asserting that its traffic handling capacity would also be assessed meanwhile.

“Keeping public sensitivities in mind, we will assess the situation after the new airport becomes operational……. we will have to report back to the High Court,” he said.

Albert Brunner, the CEO of BIAL, said that the consortium did examine government’s earlier proposal of keeping the HAL airport open for smaller flights but found it untenable. He cited contractual agreements with concessioners and financial partners besides severe financial implications for rejecting this proposal. He also said keeping the old HAL airport open would destroy the hub-and-spoke model any international airport operates with.

Asserting that the airport is ready to become operational within days of a green signal, Brunner said his consortium has not referred to a similar situation in Hyderabad and the government’s reluctance to give similar directives for the new airport in the Andhra Pradesh capital.

Asked about UDF, Brunner said that the Rs 1,075 charge would be collected in cash from international passengers till at least June, after which it would be incorporated in their tickets by the respective airlines.

Meanwhile, Chawla said that the DGCA has assured the ministry that the licensing process for the new airport would be completed within the next twothree days.

Source : DNA