Click to play videoBengaluru: The countdown to the inauguration of the swanky new Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) has begun and on Friday six test flights landed at the greenfield airport in 90 minutes.
The Rs 2500 crore project, built across 4000 acres, boasts 54 check-in counters and a streamlined baggage check system, and can handle 11 million passengers in its first year.
The airport will formally open its doors at midnight on March 29. But as D Day draws closer, several issues continue to bug the authorities.
"We have had a look at the facilities. Seriously it's very impressive but the connectivity from Bangalore city has to be tied up. The promoters and developers have assured that they will be able to put things together in two-three weeks, but lets see how things go," Ashok Chawla, Civil Aviation Secretary, says.
The road to the airport has been anything but smooth and due to incomplete connectivity projects, it takes at least two hours to travel from the city to the airport.
It is one of the main reasons why citizens have filed PILs asking for the existing HAL airport not to be shut down. Commuters also say BIAL's proposed user development fees will pinch their pockets.
"We cannot allow HAL to continue operations as per the contract signed with them. User development charge has to be levied and it is unavoidable,"
Albert Bruner, CEO of BIAL, says.
Despite the hard lobbying on to keep the existing HAL airport open, the BIAL is all set to commence operations by the end of this month.
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