Plans afoot to shift Jakkur flying school to Mysuru

Bengaluru: In a move loaded with historical and political irony, the Congress government has set in motion a proposal to shift the Jakkur Flying Training School, a heritage aviation institution inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949, out of Bengaluru. 

The development is likely to alarm aviation experts and heritage conservationists, as the proposed “relocation” may effectively spell the end of flying operations at Jakkur aerodrome, possibly to benefit real estate interests in northern Bengaluru. 

By shifting the school, the government not just plans to ease building height restrictions but also to free up the open land for commercial activities. 

In a November 2025 letter to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the state government said it was considering the possibility of shifting the Government Flying Training School (GFTS) from Jakkur to Mysuru aerodrome, the hometown of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. 

What’s more, the government has also constituted an expert committee to examine the proposal in detail. 

The panel reportedly met earlier this month. 

Notably, during his visit to the flying school in September, Siddaramaiah had supported the idea of expanding the runway by acquiring about three acres of land to make full use of the more than 200 acres available at Jakkur. He also acknowledged that the court had directed that flying training operations must continue at the aerodrome. 

But two months later, the government appears to have changed its stance, even as the DGCA has been pressing state officials to revive the school, which already has state-of-the-art facilities. 

It may be noted that the Jakkur aerodrome is situated along the fast-developing corridor leading to the Kempegowda International Airport, which makes the surrounding land among the most valuable in Bengaluru.

Developers have long complained that aviation safety regulations have severely restricted construction of high-rise buildings. Projects within a 2.7-km radius of the aerodrome require No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the flying school, while height restrictions cap buildings at around 45 metres near the flight path. 

While there have been several attempts in the past to shift the flying school, successive governments have exercised caution because the land on which it stands was gifted by the Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, specifically for aviation training. Any deviation from the original purpose of allotment could mean the government may lose legal control over the property too. 

In a column published in DH in September, Capt GR Gopinath, pioneer of India’s first low-cost airline Air Deccan, urged the government not to “pawn the state’s heritage family jewels”, describing the Jakkur Flying Training School as a unique national asset created on land specifically gifted for aviation training. 

A view of the Jakkur aerodrome in Bengaluru.