The ministry of civil aviation has decided to delay the opening of the new airport at Devanahalli near Bangalore by nearly six weeks.
?The ministry has asked Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), the firmdeveloping Bangalore?s new greenfield international airport, to consider a suitable date after May 10 for commercially opening the airport at Devanahalli,? a ministry spokesperson said.
The airport was initially expected to open on March 30, exactly 15 days after the Hyderabad?s new greenfield airport which is slated to open on Friday.
According to sources, the airport can?t be opened on March 30 due to several reasons, mainly because of the unavailability of requisite number of air traffic control (ATC) personnel.
According to a ministry statement, delays in construction of ATC facilities including the control tower, technical block, AAI personnel office accommodation and issues like electricity, house-keeping, air-conditioning at the ATC facilities were the other reasons for the delay.
The airport is expecting around 500 aircraft movements a day and requires at least 80 air traffic controllers to launch full-scale services. But there are only around 25 such personnel at the airport?s disposal, which poses a threat to safety of passengers if full-scale services are launched.
?The airport can only start skeletal service with such numbers on March 30, when the airport is scheduled for launch?, sources said.
On Wednesday, BIAL,CEO Albert Brunner had insisted that the airport would open on time. But the ministry has said that through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), they may not grant the airport a licence to operate commercially due to safety reasons if the airport insists on opening on a date not approved by the ministry.
Earlier, the ministry had intimated the anticipated date for opening of March 30 to various Central government agencies responsible for the performance of reserved activities at the airports. ?All agencies have confirmed readiness, but AAI has expressed reservations about the availability of ATC by March 30,? the statement said.