The much-awaited opening of the new airport in Devanahalli near Bangalore may be postponed by around two to three weeks due to technical difficulties.
?The decision on whether to close the airport will be taken in a couple of days,? a ministry official said.
According to sources, the main technical or safety reason is that the airport is expecting around 500 aircraft movements a day and requires at least 80 air traffic controllers (ATC) to launch full scale services. But the airport has only 25 such personnel at its 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, the sources said, on 30 March when the airport is scheduled for launch.
The Air traffic controllers (ATCs) of the new airport have expressed their apprehensions to officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) about the rushed manner in which the operational launch of the airport is being carried out.
?Right now, March 30 is not still the absolute date,? Mr Ashok Chawla, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, told reporters in Bangalore. ?We have still not taken a final view on that and need to have a clear picture. We may take a decision in two-three days after further discussions in Delhi,? he added.
Chawla along with the Director-General of Civil Aviation, AAI officials and other officials from the ministry were in Bangalore during the weekend to study the onsite and connectivity issues to the new airport in Devanahalli, and also discuss the controversial user development charges that the airport is going to levy on passengers.
Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), the operator of the new airport, has ruled out withdrawing the user development fee (UDF) on both domestic and international passengers, saying it is needed to fund future expansion.
As part of the offer, the UDF will be Rs 240 plus taxes for domestic passengers and Rs 520 plus taxes for international passengers till May 31. Thereafter, the fee will be according to the concession agreement that is Rs 675 plus taxes per domestic passenger and Rs 955 plus taxes per international passenger.
On the contrary, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (HIAL), which starts operations on March 16, withdrew user fees for domestic passengers bowing to pressure from public, budget airlines and the government.
The developers will levy Rs 1,000 as UDF for outbound international passengers. Many travelers who were later joined by some short haul carriers have also been protesting against the closure of the existing HAL airport in Bangalore.
?The new airport in Devanahalli is around one to three hours away from the city so traveling to a destination which is half that in time by air away just does not make sense,? sources said.