Bangalore's old airport may resume operations, says HAL chairman

Bangalore's old airport, owned by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), may come back to life for short-haul passenger flights.

This was indicated to reporters by HAL Chairman R.K. Tyagi at the Aero India 2013 show. If the old airport reopens, the IT capital of the country will have two operational airports for civilian flights.

The HAL-owned airport was closed to civilian flights from May 24, 2008, when operations were shifted to the new airport built by a Siemens-led consortium at Devanahalli on the city's outskirts. Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), the operator of the new airport, is now controlled by the Hyderabad-based GVK Group.

"Nowhere in the world was the existing airport closed down to make way for a new one," Tyagi said. HAL, he said, has asked for using its old airport for short-haul flights such as from Bangalore to Chennai.

Tyagi said the BIAL airport had reached its peak annual capacity of 12 million passengers, and hence, a second airport would not hurt its interests. The BIAL airport is now stepping up its annual capacity to 17 million passengers.

The HAL chairman said he had already discussed the subject with the civil aviation authorities, and they had responded positively to the idea. Since existing regulations don't allow two airports within a distance of 150 km from each other, the government would work around this, he said. "By the next round of Aero India, some useful solution will be found" on opening the HAL airport again, Tyagi said.