Bengaluru International Airport is a 4,050-acre (16.4 km²) international airport that is being built to serve the city of Bagalore,Karnataka,India.The airport is located in Devanahalli which is 40 km from the city. Construction of the airport began in July 2005, after a decade long postponement. It was expected to be inaugurated on March 30, 2008 but due to delays in Air Traffic services, it starts its operations from 23 May 2008. It will then take all the commercial flights (domestic and international) that are currently operating out of the HAL airport.
Future plans for the airport site envisage expansion of the terminal and runways and generous commercial development, including business centers, tax-free shops, entertainment centers, malls and office space.
A plan is also being processed for a direct rail service from Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station to the Basement Rail terminal at the new International Airport. Access on the National Highway is being widened to a six lane expressway, with a 3 feet (0.91 m) boundary wall, construction is moving ahead.
A new expressway is planned to connect the International Airport to the City's Ring Road. The Expressway, expected to be a tolled road, would begin at Hennur on the Outer Ring Road.Runway
The airport will have one runway when it commences operations in May 2008. The runway will be able to accommodate all types of aircraft including the Airbus A380.There are plans to build a second runway when the annual traffic of the airport reaches 18 million passengers per annum which is currently estimated to be around 2013-2014.
Length: 4000 meters
Width: 45 meters
Width plus light paved shoulders: 60 m
Orientation: 09/27
ICAO: 4E
Cost: Rs 2,470 crore (approx. $600 Million USD)
BMTC has planned to start eight new bus services from as many locations in the city to connect to the new airport.These buses will be numbered as BIAL 1 to 7 for the first seven routes that are expected to hit the roads in the last week of March 2008.[2]
- Official transportation by BIAL.
1) MeruCabs and Easycabs for taxi services (fare Rs. 15 per km)2) Hertz and Akbar Travels for luxury transport services3) BMTC Vayu Vajra A/C Volvo buses (min fare Rs. 70, max fare Rs. 200)4) BMTC Suvarna non A/C buses (min fare Rs. 20, max fare Rs. 90)
Few interesting facts
Official Website: Bangalore International AirportPromoters: Siemens-Zurich Airport-L&T consortium, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Karnataka State Investment and Industrial Development Corporation [KSIIDC].
Start Date: October 2002, June 2003, September 2003, November 2003, December 2003, June 2004, Jan 2005, Feb 2005, April 2005, July 2-2005
End Date: 2003, Early 2005, Mid-2006, Mid-2007 [27 months], Jan 2-2008
Trial Run: Jan 15, 2008 [to be held in 3 stages: Basic, Advanced and Integrated]First Commercial Flight: March 30, 2008, May 11, 2008
First Test Flight
On March 7, 2008 the first test flight took off from Bangalore HAL airport to BIAL. The flight was commanded by Deccan Captain Pratap Deshpande and First Office Ms. Hetal S. The Deccan flight was a brand new Airbus A320, which carried media persons and senior airline executives had 173 people on board and travelled 15 nautical miles and cruised at a low altitude all through. The test flight was delayed by one and a half hours!
All dates are slippery when wet.!
User Development Fee
User Development Fee is levied to provide and maintain higher infrastructure quality and safety at the airport. This is charged to departing passengers, both domestic and international. According to the aviation ministry, charging a user development fee is part of the concession agreement for the development, construction, operation and maintenance of an airport. The fee is expected to be Rs 240 plus tax for domestic flights and Rs 520 plus taxes for international flights.
When flights start to take off from BIAL on 23 May it will be the realization of a long cherished dream for the banagalorewalas and the mixed city mass for that matter.Another mile covered for the bangalore's cruise towards india's IT hub!
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