....But Only Union Cabinet Can Decide On Closure

Bangalores HAL airport, a defence facility, must not be closed unless the cabinet takes a decision to this effect, said minister of state for civil aviation Jayanthi Natrajan.

The minister is firmly of the view that an issue of such importance cannot be decided by any body lower than the cabinet itself, sources said.

The Tatas have threatened to review their role in the new Bangalore airport project if, after a cabinet decision, the terms are different from those agreed upon at a meeting held between the Tata-led consortium and the civil aviation secretary.

At the meeting, it had been decided that the HAL airport would be closed and only 52-seater landings, short haul operations, VIP and emergency flights and training would be allowed.

All cargo operations were also to be shifted to the new airport.

Union aviation minister C M Ibrahim, on his part, has already said that the airport must not be closed. The defence ministry has asked the civil aviation ministry to give domestic airlines the right to choose which airport they wished to land at in Bangalore.

In a letter sent by defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to Ibrahim, the ministry has argued that passenger aeroplanes should be permitted to choose which airport they wished to land at the existing HAL airport or the new Tata-Raytheon airport - so that the HAL airport is not forced to close down or be rendered unviable.

It has been pointed out that the existing airport, with minor runway modifications, could handle B 747-400 series aircraft and also handle the entire bulk of international traffic with some minor changes in the existing terminal building.

Sources said it would have been ideal if the decision on closure of the HAL airport had been taken before the issue of the advertisement inviting tenders and not at a meeting held between the consortium members and the secretary. They said the terms of the tenders and subsequent bids would have been very different if this fact had been pointed out at the outset.

The minister also said that she would clear the Tata airline if it met existing policy guidelines, if and when the proposal came up before her.