The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Stylish welcome to aircraft

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Saturday, Mar 08, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Stylish welcome to aircraft

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: If this were a routine flight greeted by a couple of fire engines spewing great jets of water, there would have been several spooked passengers. But it was a trial run and the great arc of water was for an unorthodox welcome to the taxiing aircraft. That is what happened at the new Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli on Friday when the first commercial aircraft touched down the runway at 9.50 a.m. The passengers comprised journalists and the two imported fire engines created the water arch as the Kingfisher Airbus 320 approached the taxiway and took a turn towards the air bridge amidst applause.

Kingfisher Airlines, which arrived from Mumbai carrying its representatives and mediapersons, had the honour of being the first flight to land at the new airport, testing the international arrival process, entering the terminal building through the boarding bridge. The Kingfisher landed 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled time of 10 a.m.

Another Airbus 320, belonging to Deccan, carrying its Chief Operating Officer Ramki Sundaram and mediapersons, landed at 11.10 a.m. This airliner used the remote parking bay and tested the domestic arrival process.

A private jet owned by Larsen and Toubro, a partner of the BIAL, was the second flight to land at about 10.15 a.m. L&T’s ECC Division head K.V. Rangaswamy along with some of his colleagues arrived in the jet from Mumbai and later took off to Chennai in the same aircraft.

IAF flights

Three aircraft belonging to the Indian Air Force too participated in the final flight trials at the new airport on Friday. The first IAF aircraft from Yelahanka airbase landed at 10.45 a.m., the second at 11 a.m. and the last at 11.20 a.m.

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