BIA launch may be put off

The commercial launch date of the new Bangalore International Airport (BIA) is likely to be deferred by two to three weeks from the scheduled date - March 28 - in view of the delay in the commissioning of the air traffic control (ATC) facility, the nerve centre of the airport.

A consensus to this effect was reached by the officials of the ministry of civil aviation and the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) at a meeting held in New Delhi on Monday to review BIA's preparedness to commence flight operations from March 28.

According to informed sources, the DGCA had expressed concern on several safety provisions including the incomplete ATC facility at the airport. A formal announcement on the postponement of the launch date is expected to be made on Tuesday.

With this, flights will continue to operate from the existing HAL airport. Sources said: "We discussed several issues pertaining to the facilities at the airport, one of the crucial component was the ATC. We have thought it fit not to hurry with the inauguration."

The move comes in the backdrop of the recent visit of a team of officials from the civil aviation ministry to BIA. The team had asked BIAL to ensure that the ATC facility was ready by March 20.

Sources said: "The personnel posted at the ATC need time to familiarise themselves with the equipment. They require training for at least a month on various equipment at the ATC facility. As the airport is expected to clock over 480 traffic movements per day, a study of the traffic pattern has to be conducted. Moreover, the ATC has to be kept on stand-by mode for a minimum of 1,000 hours before it is actually commissioned. However, these mandatory specifications cannot be met at BIA before the scheduled inaugural date."

Apart from the ATC facility, the civil aviation team had made another 58 observations regarding commencement of operations at the airport.

The postponement of the launch date will come as a respite to the state government, which has taken up several new infrastructure projects to improve road connectivity to the airport.

The Greater Bangalore City Corporation, which has taken up construction of ten underpasses to make the road to the airport a signal-free corridor, expects to complete work on at least five underpasses before the airport is thrown open to passenger traffic.

At present, one underpass has been completed and work on two are in progress.

Meanwhile, Rs 5 crore has been allotted in the state budget for 2008-09 as the state's initial equity in the new special purpose vehicle launched to undertake the work of providing high speed rail link to the airport.

"We will shortly decide as to who will execute the project," principal secretary (finance) M R Sreenivasamurthy said.