Final call on Hosur airport by end of 2022: Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu government is open to setting up a brand new airport in Hosur located just outside Bengaluru if a feasibility study commissioned by it provides positive feedback on passenger traffic and its growth in the coming years.

The government, a senior official told DH on the condition of anonymity, will take a final call on establishing an airport in the industrial city by the end of 2022 as the detailed study is expected to be completed before September.

The official said that the study by a consultant will identify two new locations for setting up the airport besides going into detail on the possibility of launching flight operations from the Taneja Aerospace complex, a private property, in Hosur.

“We want to have an airport exclusively for Hosur which is attracting huge investments in the past few years. But an airport cannot be built or flight operations launched from some existing facility without a proper study. In the first place, we should know the potential in terms of demand and its growth in the coming years,” the official told DH.

Another official said that once the government gets a detailed report from the consultancy that undertook the study, there will be “clarity” on a lot of issues.

“We are open to building a brand new airport if it is economically viable. We are identifying two land parcels near Hosur which will be looked at in detail during the study. Taneja Aerospace complex is not the only option now like earlier. We feel running an airport from a private complex has its own disadvantages. That is why two new areas will be explored,” he added.

The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) is spearheading the fresh effort after an attempt by the government in 2018 to launch services from the Taneja Aerospace complex failed due to a slew of factors, including the location falling within 150 km of the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL).

The official quoted above said the government is also exploring the option of asking BIAL to run the operations of the new airport in Hosur once it is set up. “All options are on the table. Since BIAL owns the Bengaluru airport, we feel they will be interested in Hosur as well,” the official said.

The renewed push for an airport comes at a time Hosur is emerging as one of the top destinations in the state for fresh investments with home-grown Tata setting up an electronics ecosystem and Ola building the world’s largest scooter factory in and around Hosur.

The study will identify at least three potential sites for setting up the airport, analyse air traffic growth trends in the past decade in nearby airports, forecast future traffic for the next 30 years, and assess the catchment area of the proposed airport and availability of landside road and rail connectivity.

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