Karnataka - Bangalore   

Airport opening: key decision on March 7

BANGALORE: The crucial decision on whether to stick to the deadline of March 30 for commencement of operation of flights from the international airport at Devanahalli will be taken on March 7 when top officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation inspect the airport.

According to sources in the government, a team led by Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla will visit the site on March 7 to review the preparedness of the proposed airport to commence operations.

On Friday, a group of officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation inspected the airport site and reviewed the progress of preparatory works.

As per norms, the new airport has to take licence from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for commencement of flight operations. The sources said that the DGCA had made 59 observations regarding various issues concerning to the commencement of operation of flights.

One of the main observations included that the work on the second circuit lighting for the runway was yet to be completed.

“The ongoing work is likely to be completed by March 25.”

The sources said that though provisional licence could be given on the basis of single circuit lighting, the second circuit lighting was important to handle emergencies, the sources said.

Regarding steps to establish Air Traffic Control, the sources said all equipment had arrived and the work in this regard was likely to be completed by March 20.

The trumpet interchange connecting the National Highway 7 to the new airport is likely to be ready by March 27, according to the sources.

They said that the Union Civil Aviation Ministry officials were satisfied with the “speed” of the work. But they had decided to wait till March 7 to take a final call on whether to allow the commencement of operation as per the schedule depending upon the actual progress of the work on that day.

Meanwhile, a Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) spokesperson said the meeting at the BIAL project site was organised to update its board members about the project developments and such process were mandated.

Though the inspections by the officials of the Ministry are routine, Friday’s inspection assumed significance as the airport is getting ready for operating calibration flight and conducting public trial scheduled in the first week of March.

As per the present schedule announced by the BIAL, the new airport will be inaugurated on March 28 and the operation of flights will commence from March 30.

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