Defending the Bangalore International Airport Limiteds (BIAL) stand to shut down commercial operations at the HAL Airport after the Bengaluru International Airport opens on March 30, BIAL CEO, Albert Brunner said ...
Defending the Bangalore International Airport Limited’s (BIAL) stand to shut down commercial operations at the HAL Airport after the Bengaluru International Airport opens on March 30, BIAL CEO, Albert Brunner said that operating two airports simultaneously would be disastrous.
Replying to a query on the PIL filed in the Karnataka High Court on the retention of the HAL airport he said, “ To operate two airports on a long term basis is a bad solution and would also be disastrous for the airline operators, passengers and for the over all business activity. Cities which have dual airports like Hong Kong and Munich have turned out to be a disasters and the airports have never grown.
While international airports in London sees passenger volumes of 140 million, New York has 150 million air passengers per year. Bangalore has just 10 million. Here is an unique opportunity for Bangalore airport to be a major hub in south India by having one big and strong airport,” he said.
As part of the next expansion plans he said that an estimated Rs 2,000 to 3,000 crores will be invested which include the construction of a second runway and terminal buildings and other infrastructure facilities .
Let us have the actual traffic statistics of Bangalore -- hub to global/domestic hub, hub to non-metro etc -- before saying anything about overkill. In any event, BIAL's talk of expansion etc is vapourware as now we hear that the Defence Ministry is objecting to the location of the second runway on the grounds of interference with Yelahanka air base. BIAL's planning is dubious and travelers have to pay the price for it.
by Philip Thomas on 2/22/2008 8:24:31 PM
Further to my previous comment,I have since checked out the multi-airport system of New York city on the Net, and was surprised to find that its three main airports are only 15 to 30 km apart (not 150 km as required in India). I am sure a similar situation prevails in London.
by Sunny on 2/22/2008 12:28:45 PM
for the amount of air traffic 2 airports is an overkill right now- priority is to get good high speed road/ rail links to new aiport - lets hope that happens before the aiport opens - other wise what a shame on Bangalore.
Examples of New York and London are irrelevant as their multi-airport systems have been around for decades. Dallas-Fort Worth is an example where one airline insisted it would continue to operate from Love Field and thus the iconic low cost carrier Southwest Airlines was born 40 years ago. More recently, Bangkok has had to reopen its existing airport because of inadequacies in the new one. Brunner only thinks of airports -- the bigger the better. People want convenience and affordability.
