Flying high: Are we prepared?
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‘The more the merrier’ should be the norm for airports for handling the ever-growing air traffic of Bangalore, says K. SUKUMARAN
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INFRASTRUCTURE NECESSITIES: When Santa Cruz and Sahar International airports in Mumbai can co-exist and run economically and efficiently side by side, why not in Bangalore?
Time is money. Though an old adage, it fits in quite well in today’s globalised world. Sufficient infrastructure to move men and material to the destination in good time through land, air or water will be necessary to ensure effective use of time and resources.
The phenomenal growth in air traffic is an indication of this trend. This naturally leads to development of more airports and supporting infrastructure everywhere. This is equally true for Indian cities and Bangalore cannot be an exception.
History of Bangalore skies
The Indian aviation industry did not have Bangalore in its initial scheme of things. As history has it, the HAL airport was set up during World War II for servicing military aircraft, as a private venture. The British took it over and developed it into a civil-cum-defence airport in the post-war years. The Indian Air Force used the facility for a long time to train its pilots.
Only skeleton civil flights were operated in the 1960s and 70s. The Indian Airlines expanded its operations during the 1980s by starting more feeder services to and from the four metros.
Thanks to the foresight of late J.R.D. Tata who was at the helm of affairs then, Bangalore too received more connecting flights. During the Nineties, the demand for direct flights from and to international destinations came from the software industry leaders to facilitate their clients’ easy access to India’s ‘Silicon Valley’. Yet, the real rush of traffic had to wait till the low cost airlines became key players in the Indian civil aviation history. With rapid expansion over the years, the HAL airport is now the third busiest airport in India.
Full scale civil airport
The idea of establishing a state-of-the-art airport in Bangalore was conceived only in the run-up to the new millennium. The increasing number of air travellers due to the ‘open sky’ policies of the Government too aided the idea.
When the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) was first conceived in 1991, the air traffic in Bangalore was less than a million a year. By the time the logistics were finalised by 2002 after prolonged negotiations with various connected agencies, the traffic rose to over two million and when the construction started in 2005, it went up to over four million.
The initial estimated capacity of the Devanahalli airport has been 4.5 million per year which was later revised to 10 million in line with the global trends. The projections went awry and already, the HAL airport is handling over eight million passengers, straining its support mechanisms.
Available statistics indicate that the number of flights from and to HAL airport has touched over 80,000 per year. It is difficult to believe that 300 plus flights take off and land here every day with over 27,000 passengers! This is, in addition to a number of freight carriers mainly to assist export of goods from the city.
Almost all major international airlines including British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Gulf Air, Malaysian, Sri Lanka Airlines, apart from Air India, operate almost daily flights from Bangalore these days. Other international air services are also reported to be seeking reciprocal arrangements which have been held back due to inadequate support systems.
Forecast
A 40 per cent growth in air traffic from and to Bangalore is the most conservative estimate. While the number of international flights during 2006-07 stood at around 10,500, the daily domestic flights in and out is nearly 850. These numbers are likely to go up by almost one-third in the next couple of years.
Growing needs
Can BIAL, Devanahalli manage the growing needs? The already delayed (for many reasons including the design) BIAL is set to start its first flight in mid-2008. It will take a few more months to have full-scale operations. Such being the case, the feasibility of expanding its estimated handling capacity further in the near future is remote.
Solution
The solution, naturally, will be to continue to use the facilities at HAL airport by working out the air control systems, as is done in Mumbai. How to divide the traffic between the two airports also needs to be worked out. The original plan to completely shift the traffic to BIAL may be abandoned, being impractical at the present juncture.
What is required is that the BIAL should get its share of traffic and necessary income to break even from the first year of its operation itself. Continuance of sufficient income to the HAL may also be ensured. If the defence requirements such as induction of jets into the Indian Air Force warrants more space, it becomes necessary to plan another civil airport, may be in the proposed Bangalore South District or Mandya at a lower cost. Let us be pragmatic to the needs of infrastructure with visionary approach.
Other airports in Karnataka?
Simultaneously, a plan to develop airports in smaller towns — both existing and new – such as Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli/ Belgaum, Shimoga, Bellary, Hospet/Hampi, Gulbarga/Raichur, may be put in place, under PPP, to meet the increasing air traffic.
When the aircraft manufacturing companies bring out futuristic versions with increased carrying capacity, can there be inadequate handling facilities?
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