In an explosive multi-pronged growth mode, Bengaluru’s massive population and industry had always mandated at least two fully functional commercial airports. With the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) Managing Director Hari Marar articulating that need recently, the spotlight has shifted back to an old proposal to build a “third airport” after reopening the old HAL Airport.
First, the grim statistics. Already the country’s third busiest, the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will exceed its structural capacity of 92 million passengers per annum (MPPA) by 2032-33. That is less than 10 years from now. After a COVID-induced dip of 31.9 MMPA in the financial year 2022, the airport is all set to spring back with a projected 40 MPPA by the end of FY 2023, a whopping 25% increase.
BIAL’s suggestion came after the Karnataka government reportedly turned down a plan to build a third runway at KIA. But Hari Marar did not make any mention of the HAL airport, which BIAL has steadfastly refused to reopen, citing a 150 km-radius contractual agreement. The contract bars commercial flights from operating at the HAL airport — located within a 150 km radius of KIA — for 25 years after the new aerodrome opened in May 2008.
