Bangalore: Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) A.K. Saxena said here on Monday that airlines had been informed that the airport could not handle any more flights.

"We have reached a saturation stage and our own test flights are getting hampered. We are already operating at more than twice our capacity and are over stretched," Mr. Saxena said.

Regional Director of Airport Authority of India (AAI) A. Krishnamurthy said the ongoing airport improvement work was scheduled to be completed by April 30 and the installation of additional conveyor belts for baggage handling was also being completed. "We are constantly trying to upgrade facilities for travellers," he said.

HAL and AAI recently worked out a Rs. 50-crore project to improve the airport infrastructure and modernise the Air Traffic Control (ATC).

The terminal expansion is scheduled to be completed by the month-end and will have up to 20 check-in counters for passengers.

In terms of passenger traffic, the airport has emerged as the third busiest in the country, but the facilities have not kept in pace.

With only one runway, the airport continues to feel the pinch. The huge increase in the number of flights by different airlines, State-owned and private carriers, means there is one landing or take-off every two minutes during peak time. The airport currently manages about 260 to 300 take-offs and landings of aircraft on most days, including civilian, IAF and HAL's own aircraft.

Only the Mumbai airport with 550 to 600 take-offs and landings and New Delhi with 450 to 500 are busier than Bangalore.

About six million passengers use the HAL airport in a year. The airport was originally designed to handle only about 3.6 million passengers a year.

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