Give us our substandard Bangalore international airport: Govt

And this is no clerical typing error. It comes after 17 months of negotiations between different Ministries. And between the Government and the private consortium, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), that will build and operate the airport.

Unique Zurich, Larsen & Toubro and Siemens Project Ventures have a 74 per cent stake in BIAL.

According to the terms set by the Government, on a scale of 5 (5 being Excellent, 4 Good, 3 Fair, 2 Poor, 1 Very Poor) BIAL has to ensure that the new airport—scheduled to be ready by 2006—should not fall below 3.

The Government has opted for the grading system adopted by International Air Transport Association (IATA). In 2000, in its Global Monitor on airports, it put the average of major Asian airports at 3.5. Major airports across the world score above 4.

Incidentally, in that same survey, Delhi and Mumbai scored 2.6 and 2.3 respectively (see chart). And were ranked among the three ‘‘least favourable airports’’ on all key factors.

‘‘This means that all what the private party building the Bangalore airport needs to do is to remain a little better than the existing shape of Delhi and Mumbai airports,’’ says a Civil Aviation official.

That’s an arrangement that suits both players. BIAL doesn’t need to raise the bar. Neither does the Government which will run the Customs, Immigration and Air Traffic Control at the airport.

What’s worse, the Government-BIAL agreement is being seen as a ‘‘point of reference,’’ for the new airport at Hyderabad and when privatisation comes to Delhi and Mumbai as per the Cabinet’s decision last month.

When asked why the minimum standards had been kept even below the Asian average, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudy said he was not completely aware of the finer details. ‘‘I will not comment until I fully update myself on the matter.’’