New Bangalore airport to be commissioned by April 2008

New Delhi: The new international airport at Bangalore will open for public service on 2 April 2008. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel supplied this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. He also said that the Karnataka government had suggested that the new airport be known as the Bangalore International Airport.

'As a matter of general policy, the name of the city is retained for naming the airport since passengers and visitors in general, and foreign tourists in particular, find it easier to identify the airport when it is named after the city it serves,' he added.

By way of additional information, the minister also informed the house that work on the six-lane National Highway 7, linking Bangalore city with Devanahalli, where the new airport is being built, is complete except for two railway over-bridges.

The first over-bridge would be ready by May 2007 while the second would be ready by the end of the year, Patel said.

The present Bangalore airport belongs to state-owned aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Airports Authority of India (AAI) maintains a civil enclave for commercial aircraft operations. Patel also informed the house that after commissioning of the new airport, the HAL airport will be closed for commercial civil aviation operations.