Commercial operations at Bengaluru International Airport commence from 22 May
15 May 2008
Bangalore: The new Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) at Devanahalli will become operational on 22 May, post 8 pm, with only flight landings permitted. However, the first flight departure, an Indian flight for Singapore, will take place only at 00:01 hours (midnight). The departure would also mark the shutdown of commercial operations of the old HAL airport.
The debut flight, departing from the new airport, will be an Indian IC-957 flight to Singapore, operating a Airbus A320 aircraft, and will carry 144 passengers. According to sources, this is a popular flight as it enables onward connections to the west coast of America, Australia and Japan
Though departures commence only on 23 May, all late evening flights within the country for Bangalore will land at the new airport at Devanahalli.
The greenfield airport is due to commence operations after having its original launch date shifted from 28 March, first to 11 May and now after litigation to 22 May. The original launch was postponed mainly because it was claimed that avionics-related infrastructure was not in place and also that staff did not receive adequate time to familiarise themselves with the equipment.
The new airport has now received necessary clearances from all agencies, including the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) and approximately 300 Airports Authority of India (AAI) staff are in place to handle operations at the new airport.
