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May292007
Is Bangalore’s International Airport project jinxed?
Why wouldn’t one think so? Consider this -
BIAL Project Inception: 1991
Current Status, 2007 : 16 years later report says there are ‘Flaws in Bangalore Airport Design’
Verdict : Can we have a law against morons please? 
We Bangaloreans have pulled all the petals from the proverbial flower in a desparate attempt to know if we will have our International Airport or not.
Going by today’s newspapers it looks like we have a long wait before the Airport see’s daylight. For today, the Times of India reports that the Bangalore Airport design is flawed.
As per the reports there is a structural design flaw as it shows three sides of the terminal’s building below ground level. While the Bangalore Airport has been stalled, Hyderabad’s International Aiport has been given the green signal.
The Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BAIL) has been one most awaited projects since when it was conceived in 1991. Announced with much fanfare, a lot of promises were made.
To be built at the cost of Rs 1,334 crore [$288 million] the airport was supposed to be modelled on the Zurich one, known for being the most efficient airport in Europe.
The features promised (on paper) was -
- Domestic arrival : Ground floor
- International arrival : Swing gate walk on second floor
- Domestic and International departure : First floor
- Baggage handling and claim : Ground floor
- Large upmarket shopping areas
- Multi cuisine restaurants
- Play areas and day care centres
Around the same time the Kerala government decided to get an International Airport built at Cochin too. Today the International Airport at Kochi is one of the country’s youngest Airports with modern facilities and is currently the fourth busiest airport in India in terms of international traffic (2.5 million passengers including domestic and international for 2006-2007.
Bangalore International Airport for that matter has never taken off
The funniest bit has been saved for the last.
Visit Bangalore Aiport website and there is a small flash banner stating that there are only 308 days to go for the Airport opening. What a laugh.
Despite having two ground-breaking or Bhoomi puja ceremony’s, several prominent leaders like Narayana Murthy (Infosys) on the panel and international airport design companies the project seems to head nowhere.
Is the International Airport project of Bangalore truly jinxed?
Cross Posted @ Whiterays
The views expressed in this post are those of the writer and are not necessarily endorsed by Mutiny.in
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Santosh
001
7:35 am
This is very disheartening - We all know that the design was never unveiled to the public - unlike Hyderabad airport - there was no model pictures posted on the website… the worst of all is that the feedback link on the website does not take you anywhere.. there is a code error - what a pathetic way to handle an international airport support service huh! - I guess the center was sleeping all this while when they unveiled the design for the first time. How can our CM sit quite on these issues… - D’ont our designers and architects travel all over the world? Havent they seen airports in different countries?? then my question and concern as a Bangalorean is why should our city suffer because of beaurocracy?? Is some one listening?
Some points on the airport alone.. let alone all other plans for the city..
Please revamp that website and let everyone know whats the reality.
Unveil the design - put it up for everyone to know… and see
Keep up the promise but in a very big way not building a goods storage unit and call it an International airport…
Grieved Bangalorean
woke
002
10:27 am
The Siemens consortium seems to have screwed up. If I am not mistaken, this is their first airport project. I wonder who the infrastructure consultants were.
By the way the airport looks every bit bad as the KMP website http://www.kmp-ag.ch/en/portfolio/
German efficiency + Swiss creativety - Indian Beauracracy = A total mess
The hyderabad-bangalore comparison is nothing but Times of India sh*t.
Vinod
003
12:57 pm
Zurich airport is really good… if it can meet up to its standard…nothing like it… I hope it does and a direct flight from zurich 2 namma bangalore as well…!!
Vinod
Zurich
abdul moiz
004
2:12 am
hahaha….. quiet laughable, it was concieved in 1991 and project took off in 2007. no wonder our beaurocrats are a speed breakers to our economy when we talk about accelerating our GDP to 10% on par with with china our beaurocrats are lazy butts they just did not know our country’s potential till the corrupt are in power. its a dream about catching up with china.
john
005
2:37 am
Is Bangalore airport capable of handing the Airbus A380?
Most new airports have a separate walk thru being built which can go to 2 doors at a time to accomodate the 380.
Also, as somebody had suggested it would be a good idea for the website to put an actual model for everyone to see.
Listening BIAL??
woke
006
3:44 am
John,
Yes Bglr airport design is A380 compatible.
Their master plans itself is rejected - so what is point of putting a model of the airport on the website.
sunil kumar.k
007
4:08 am
relax people!the bangalore international airport will be opened on april 02 2008,as promised.as far as the central government is concerned,remember it is th UPA which is ruling & they are trying to put a spanner in the works coz’ its a ‘janata dal (s) & BJP government’ in the karnataka state.moreover andhra pradesh is ruled by the congress party.this is just a political gimmick which will do them no good whatsoever.BAIL is been professionally built & so will its operations be as good as the Zurich airport.
sudhir P
008
5:51 am
exactly! I agree with the above comments. BIAL is professionally managed and the focus is on operational excellence and passenger comfort rather than asthetics etc. The design was approved by the centre and It is now just a political gimmick. In bangalore what we need is a good, efficient and a spacious airport hub. Unlike Hyd airport BIAL likes to maitain a low profile and desist from tall claims like longest runway in south asia or tallest ATC in India or great architecture or even selectinga opening date 1 month earlier thna the Blore airport etc.. how does it matter to the ordinary traveller. Passenger Comfort, flights connections and facilities will differentiate these airports in the future. The rest are all good to have features but not a necessary. Bangalore airport will be a class apart. I am sure BIAL will surely have an edge over all these parameters when it becomes operational on Apr 2008.
Jay Sitlani
009
7:11 am
Since when did the GOI care about “aesthetics?”
Name one GOI building that can claim to be even vaguely aesthetically pleasing. And as far as airports go, the world’s ugliest buildings have to be the ugly, dull and antiquated decaying latrines the IAAI calls airports. All that Bangalore needs is a professionally run, professionally designed airport conceived and run by professionals. That means no one from the GOI or its cohorts.
Chandru
010
7:33 am
Well, you have to take each of the comments in perspective. Praful Patel wants the airport design to look international… in the sense he wants architects to think about lighting and more geometrical designs,… these are what he calls international. But using silks to drape the airport is in a way representation of Karnataka’s strength.. that would make it a true representation of indian culture.
So I think it is a political gimmick.
prashu
011
9:13 am
Come on guyz… how can u say that its a political gimmick… think practically… do u really think that the UPA would be so biased that they would find faults with the airports also…. i dont think so…. and more over this is not the first time the ministry wrote a letter to the BIAL… regardless we all shall hope that the airport starts its operations by 2008 april and become the real pride of the nation… and plz.. no comparision between HIAL and BIAL.. its all media thing…
john
012
2:38 am
I think BIAL should review the comments and give a reply. If they keep quiet, people are going to believe what they hear.
It may not be as bad as it is made out to be. Maybe there is no problem at all.
BIAL REPLY ON YOUR WEBSITE!!
oogzy
013
2:22 pm
This airport when it opens is going to be ten times better than any of the current airports in India, irrespective of whether some semi literate idiots with no sense of what appreciation or understandong for post modernism styling.
In the meantime, it Looks like the the message is clear.
If any Indian or International entity feels the need to help India develop it’s terrible infrastructure. take a hammer and hit themselves in the head, for having such stupid thoughts.
Srikanth
014
5:45 pm
common guys , does the UPA govt does get any milage out of the civil avaition ministers comments ? i dont think so, how can u say its going to be professionaly managed and would better cater to the passengers if there is a flaw in the design itselg ..? i think HIAL would ultimately reign
Srivathsa
015
12:13 am
I am tempted to think that this has something to do with the budget airlines. They will lose a lot of business to buses and trains if they cannot operate out of HAL.
As long as the airport operates efficiently and is clean who cares. Does anyone of us live in airports?
SAR
016
12:20 am
Although BIAL is trying hard to compete to the standards of the Hyderabad Intl airport but unfortunately that does not seem to be the case in almost every aspect.
bangalorean
017
12:25 am
Airport will open on target and bangalore is and will remain on top charts……wait and watch we believe in practicality and not on theories………
great Bangalorean
018
7:37 am
dont worry abt bangalore Airport, and stop comparing with HYD.
there is no way HYD can meet bangalores economic growth
what ever may be the design, or delay Banaglore is gonna rock the new INDIA
zafar
019
6:32 am
Hyderabad city much better than bangalore and fifth metro city of india as well as hitech city.
Nagendra
020
11:14 pm
Funny, the International airports website is hacked,
I tried to see the pictures of the bangalore international airport in construction by clicking on the pictures in the project status area
I found a hacked page by some hackers.
http://www.bialairport.com/
MANOJ KUMAR VALLABHANENI
021
10:20 pm
Please stop comparing GMR-HIAL with BIAL. HIAL is almost twice as big as BIAL! Where does this comparision come from?
See the way GMR is handling the project with passion and professionalism! HIAL is going to be the Aero HUB between Europe and Rest of the Asia, china!! It is already south Asias’ biggest airport..when all the terminals are built its gonna be one of the biggest and busiest airports in the world - with Huge capacity Passenger Terminals, Cargo terminals and state-of-the-art MRO facilities being setup by Lufthansa Teknik! Its not just the team that is involved, but their degree of involvement delivers the quality stuff - GMR the infrastructure experts from Hyderabad has managed to get the right things and world’s best things in place for this Pet Project of theirs!! Kind of no-compromise attitude! I have been checking the HIAL website almost every alternative day since the start of the project - it is so informative up-to date and always content!! At the same time BIAL’s website was really pathetic…its only in recent past times they caught up with current status etc.. This is just a small example! And politics has no place here to play much as these are Private party lead Airports!! Thats all folks! rest - you just wait and watch
sudheendra
022
12:42 pm
when it comes to IT every one started saying bangalore is gone!!!!!!!!!! now its hyderabad but what is fact ? still hyderabad is not even crossed chennai software OP, still it is suffering with terrosist attack and flyover accidents..
RVM
023
4:40 am
This is to Manoj Kumar Whatneni. I guess you have the facts wrong. Both BIAL and HIAL airport are similar in size. Its not twice as big as you claim. They both would handle 11 million passengers per year. If HIAL needs twice the space as BIAL to handle the same number of passengers, then there is an obvious flaw in HIAL design. It would be highly inefficient.
As far as political gimmick is concerned, only time will tell which airport will get the top spot once passengers start using it. I would rather have a low profile to start with than a big bang.
BTW, air traffic in Bangalore is much more than in Hyderabad and is continuously registering high growth in traffic year after year. I am not sure HIAL can generate such revenues once it opens to the public.
I hope both airports do well and keep the india’s infrastructure sector moving for better.
RVM
024
6:06 am
For those of you who are concerned about the design flaws. Here is an excerpt from the interview with Civil Aviation Minister.
Civil Aviation Minister Expresses Satisfaction At Progress Of Airport Work
BIAL: From brickbats to bouquets
Civil Aviation Minister Expresses Satisfaction At Progress Of Airport Work
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore: The much-beleaguered Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) at Devanahalli, subject of criticism from the Union civil aviation ministry, can finally heave a sigh of relief.
In the wake of unfavourable comparisons to the GMR Hyderabad Airport at Shamshabad, Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel, who made a whirl-wind site tour here and at Hyderabad on Friday, told The Times of India: “Both will be worldclass airports, exactly as we want them.