Thursday, July 30, 1998 A project in peril R K Mattoo
http://www.expressindia.com/news/ie/daily/19980730/21150894.html
<The NAA said that once the new international airport came up, it would
withdraw all its infrastructure from the HAL airport. In a subsequent letter
dated May 1, 1995, the Centre said all commercial operations of national and
foreign carriers and cargo activities would be shifted to the new
airport....The committee was also asked to examine the exclusivity of the
new airport vis-a-vis the existing airports at Bangalore HAL, Yelahanka and
Jakkur...The HAL Airport was to continue and to be made available to smaller
aircraft (up to 52-seat capacity), for short haul operations (excluding
state capitals and international airports), training, emergency, VIP flights
etc. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) operating responsibility andequipment
were to continue to rest with the AAI...The [Tata] consortium in its report
made three points: a. There is no perceptible change in project cost.b. The
project cannot be pruned down as it would affect quality of services.c. It
will be difficult to make the project viable pegging aeronautical charges at
25 per cent of the AAI's future charges. The economic unsuitability of the
project made the Tatas announce a few months ago that they had pulled out of
the project..> This 10 year old story needs careful study, updating (for
Bangalore) and replication in the context of Goa (i.e. Dabolim and Mopa).
