bangalorebeats

New Bangalore Airport Comming Soon

The much awaited Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli is stated to start on 30th March 2008 at 12 am in the night. It is located 37 kilometres away from Bangalore and 4 kilometres south of Devanahalli on the east of the Bangalore-Hyderabad national highway (NH7). Trial has already begun for flights and handling and the project is in the final stages of completion. To view a few pictures of the ongoing construction, click here. Bangalore International Airports Limited (BIAL) the company which was created to undertake this project is joint venture of few companies like Siemens, Zurich Airport, L & T, AAI and KSIIDC.

The present HAL airport located besides Airport road will be closed for civilian use once the new airport starts operation and there is already skrimishes on the this. However, the bigger problem at hand is for the commuters who will have to travel more than 37 kms (distance will not be same from all parts of Bangalore) to reach there braving traffic snarls. We might have read many a times about the proposal of a high speed rail link directly from Manekshaw parade ground on MG road to the new airport. On the ground looks like nothing has moved. Again, we heard about a high speed road tunnel originating from Minsk square leading to the new airport. Not sure if it is still on the radar. Lastly, the only option at hand as of now the Bellary road to reach there is suppose to have grade separators and overpasses installed. But given the short period of time will BBMP be able to keep pace? The much touted magic box is taking a lot of time as against the claim.

One may fear that their flying time may be less than the time taken to reach the airport. There are many words of hellihopping to airport but that is out of reach of the general public. So there should be suitable arrangements for general passengers to commute to and from the airport. The floated idea of Volvo buses shuttling in this regard should be persued vigoriously. Such buses should run from designated pick up points at designated times. Passengers should not be left at the mercy of Autos and cabs.

On monday(28/01/2008), the logo for the new Bangalore airport which is comming up at Devanahalli was unveiled. The TOI published, the logo is trying to feature all walk of life in Bangalore. The new logo reflects Bangalore’s reputation as garden city and incorporates the new name Bengaluru.