Even as litigations continue over keeping the current HAL-run airport in Bangalore open for commercial activities, civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla has ruled out the possibility of two airports functioning in the IT hub of the country.
Chawla gave broad hints to the effect that the existing HAL-run airport would cease to function beyond March 30 when the greenfield Bengaluru International Airport will become operational.
Chawla along with other civil aviation ministry officials and Indian Air Force personnel on Friday visited Devenhalli, 40 km away from the city, to assess the project prior to clearing it for commercial purposes.
The controversial Bengaluru International Airport has been in the eye of a storm with four public interest litigations being filed in the Karnataka High Court seeking retention of the HAL-run airport for short haul flights and citing high user development fees (UDF) at the upcoming international airport. The PILs are slated to come up in the HC on Monday again.
However, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) chief executive Albert Brunner said they would not emulate Hyderabad and negate the UDF on domestic passengers. But he said the proposed fee of Rs 240 for domestic passengers was negotiable.
?Both international and domestic travelers use the same airport infrastructure. Hence, it is only right that both should be charged for using it,? he said.
The authorities of the Hyderabad International Airport, proposed to open on March 16, had recently said they would not levy UDF on domestic passengers.
Meanwhile, Deccan?s officiating CEO Ramki Sundaram said the UDF rates would hurt short haul passengers. ?Airlines today are operating in a high cost regime. The UDF will impact short- haul travelers,? he said adding, discussions were on with BIAL and the government about addressing the user charges and connectivity issues to the airport.
On Friday, as public trials began at the
Bengaluru International Airport, Deccan tested domestic arrival and Kingfisher tested international arrival processes.
