Come Saturday and passengers will fly in and out of Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru.
The renaming of the Bengaluru International Airport will be marked by the inauguration of an additional terminal. With the new terminal-1A, the passenger capacity is expected to rise from the current 1.2 million to about two million in a year. The increased capacity will see the airport overtake Chennai Airport to be the third largest aerodrome in the country, with respect to the number of passengers handled in a year.
Infrastructure and Information Technology Minister S R Patil told reporters on Friday said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will rename the airport while Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh will inaugurate terminal-1A.
“With the renaming of the Airport after legendary ruler Kempegowda, who is also the founder of Bangalore, the long-cherished dream of the people of Karnataka will be fulfilled,” Patil said.
Union Ministers Veerappa Moily, K Rahman Khan, K C Venugopal and State Ministers K J George, R V Deshpande others will present on the occasion.
Built on PPP Model
Constructed at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore, the new terminal, Patil said, will help in handling over 20 million passengers annually and also meet the growing air travel needs of the city.
He said the greenfield airport was built on the public-private partnership (PPP) model. It has handled about 64 million passengers since operations began. “This fiscal, the airport is expected to handle over 1.29 million passengers,” he said.
Improved Efficiency
Senior director, finance and support services, BIAL, B Bhaskar, said the expansion will not only improve passenger capacity but also enhance efficiency.
“This is an infrastructure project that has taken shape over two years in line with citizens’ aspirations and the State’s vision for world-class infrastructure,” he said.
Govt Looks to AAI on Bijapur Airport
The State government has approached the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to build the proposed greenfield airport in the historical city of Bijapur. Infrastructure Minister S R Patil told reporters on Friday that private company Marg, which was to have executed the project, has backed out. Patil added that AAI has responded positively to the request.