BIA work to cause inconvenience

The passengers flying in and out of the Bengaluru International Airport will face inconvenience from March 11, as sections of the airport, including the runway, will be closed for maintenance.

The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has announced that it would implement “runway maintenance plan” in a phased manner for seven hours a day, between 10.30 am and 5.30 pm, starting from March 11 to April 3. No flight will either land or take off when the runway is closed.

The runway maintenance, BIAL said, was being conducted with a long term perspective.

It was taken up after in-depth consultation with all the stakeholders - domestic and international airlines, the Airports Authority of India and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and some of the world’s leading consultants.

“To ensure that the airport is in the best operational condition at all times, we have decided to go ahead with the maintenance work with immediate effect, so as to complete the activity before the monsoon, expected to start in May,” a BIAL statement said. It has also rubbished rumours of cracks on the runway.

Sources in the DGCA said the permission was granted as there was no other way to carry out the work. Passenger inconvenience, a source said, would be minimised as much as possible.

BIAL, was already in discussion with the DGCA to seek permission and three sets of dates had earlier been rejected by the authority before clearing this.