The Hindu : Traffic at HAL Airport will continue to be high

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 14, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Traffic at HAL Airport will continue to be high

By Rasheed Kappan

BANGALORE, MARCH 13. Even if commercial flights stop operating from the Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd. (HAL) Airport here on the completion of the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli three years from now, the volume of Defence and VVIP flights to and from the airport will remain high.

According to recent statistics of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), 278 military aircraft land and 289 depart every month from the airport.

It also records a total of 421 arrivals and departures of various HAL aircraft a month.

Defence-related arrivals and take-offs account for 988 flights, almost a fifth of the total 5,691 monthly flights to and from the airport. Domestic traffic at the airport increased by 29 per cent in 2003, possibly the highest rate of growth across the country.

If domestic and international flights are put together, the airport handled nearly 2.9 million passengers in 2003.

It is estimated that once the airport at Devanahalli starts operation, HAL will lose Rs. 100 crore, which it now earns by way of parking, landing, and navigation fees levied on airline operators.

The airport now caters to 2.5 million passengers and 25,000 tonnes of cargo. HAL had opposed the airport's closure, an issue that had kept the State Government on tenterhooks for long.

The public sector undertaking's contention was that the international airport would affect handling of planes of the Indian Air Force by it.

The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, performed the "bhumi pooja" for the Rs. 1,285-crore international airport project a few months ago.

Though HAL relented on the airport closure issue and helped in resolving the contentious integrated airspace management issue, a technical aspect related to the closure has become the latest irritant for the much-delayed Devanahalli project.

The State Government has reportedly objected to the framing of a clause related to the closure of the HAL Airport for commercial operation in the draft Concession Agreement (CA), which was cleared by the Centre on January 20.

As per the draft agreement, the closure will be on a "best effort" basis.

The State Government wants it to be categorical.

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