Agencies fight, dream project hits airpocket

It's India’s most ambitious airport project — a $230-million venture with majority private stake. But a controversy is threatening...

It’s India’s most ambitious airport project — a $230-million venture with majority private stake. But a controversy is threatening to choke Bangalore’s international airport. The fight is over the management of airspace between the Airports Authority of India, Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd and the Indian Air Force.

The HAL and IAF have not yet come up with plans to surrender even an inch of their airspace despite the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s efforts since February. So the AAI has refused to chart out air traffic routes for flights to approach the airport.

If routes were to be mapped without disturbing the existing arrangement, official sources said, then not more than eight flights will be able to operate in an hour. For an airport slated to have a capacity of 4 million passengers, this will not be commercially viable. It would be even less than the Delhi airport which handles close to 20 flight operations in an hour.

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In a note to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, AAI has made it clear that it will not undertake the task of charting out air routes unless gaps in the airspace allocation plan are plugged. With the Defence Ministry not making its stand clear on the subject, sources said, the matter will have to go to the Prime Minister’s Office for final clearance.

Laying down a set of minimum requirements to begin operations, AAI has suggested that it will need unrestricted control over at least 30 nautical miles airspace — up to a height of 12,000 ft — around the proposed site at Devanahalli near Bangalore.

Beyond the 30 nautical-mile zone, AAI has stated that it will need to control 20 nautical miles on both sides of civilian air corridors to Bangalore International Airport.

This is needed to ensure that civilian aircrafts are not hindered by HAL activity as well as IAF sorties from its base at Yellahanka. This plan, however, eats into the airspace of HAL and Yellahanka IAF base.

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While AAI is open to both IAF and HAL conducting their activities at heights not identified in the plan, sources said, the approval of Defence Ministry is awaited. Neither HAL nor IAF has submitted their plans with the committee designated to propose the airspace management plan at Bangalore.

Sources say, the plan is being held hostage to a turf war on who will control the airspace. Civilian air traffic to the existing Bangalore airport is controlled by HAL which will be transferred to AAI when the new airport comes up. However, HAL does not want to give up its control over aircraft approaching Bangalore. Since there cannot be two control towers manning flights, the matter will have to resolved at the highest level.

Already plagued by delays over financial clearances, the Bangalore International Airport Limited has extended the deadline twice. The company now hopes to accomplish the task by 2006. But the controversy over the airspace management is emerging as the next roadblock.