BENGALURU: While the prospect of a second airport in Bengaluru has been in the spotlight of the news cycle for a while, another airfield seems to be on its way out of the city. The future of Jakkur Aerodrome, which houses the Government Flying Training School (GFTS), seems bleak, as the Karnataka government eyes a potential shift for it to Mysuru. Aviation insiders who have used the aerodrome lament its potential fate, and see it as a move with vested interests.
The concretisation of the government’s intent came with a letter from Principal Secretary to Government Naveen Raj Singh, addressed to chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) Vipin Kumar, to join an expert committee meeting convened by the former on December 3 “to evaluate the possibility and the feasibility of the above intended shifting [of the GFTS from Jakkur to Mysuru].”
There has been, of course, been pushback from the aviation committee, a majority of which points at the move having the implicit motive of exploiting the real estate potential of the area, given the expansion of the city towards Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and the density of corporate establishments in the area. “It’s nothing but the corrupt trying to capitalise on the real estate potential of that area. The fact that they have ignored is that the government is only the custodian of the land and not the owners of it,” says Captain Gurudath Kavalu, an alumnus of the GFTS.
“The Maharaja of Mysore gave the airfield to the Karnataka government in 1938 for the purpose of setting up the GFTS. The elevated highway [running at a right angle with the aerodrome] which came up around 2009, is completely illegal. It’s against the Aircraft Act rules. I have been fighting the matter in the High Court for the last decade, and I’ll shortly be moving for contempt, as it was declared illegal around four years back and still there has been no action. The whole plan is using a public infrastructure project as a reason to shift the school,” says Captain Arvind Sharma.
Both the captains and the aviation community at large regard the move of the school as a big loss to aspiring pilots from Bengaluru, especially those from middle-class or lower backgrounds, who could make use of the subsidised rates of the GFTS. It is made more absurd by the fact that Mysuru already has a private flying school. Captain Sharma was a student of GFTS as well, and is grateful for the accessibility it provided. “The value of the school and the aerodrome is not something that you can put a price tag on,” adds Captain Kavalu.