Bengaluru International Airport is set to be the next new airport to open following the opening of Hyderabad’s Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport.
The Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) had planned to open the airport on 30 March but the date had to be pushed back to mid-May due to delays involving the Air Traffic Control (ATC) servicesinfrastructure.
Construction of the airport began in July 2005, after a decade long postponement and once operational will then take all the commercial flights (domestic and international) that are currently operating out of the HAL Bangalore InternationalAirport.
The HAL Airport or Hindustan Airport,is currently the domestic and international airport serving Bangalore, Karnataka and is the fourth busiest airport in India handling an estimated 7.5 million passengersa year as of 2006.
The new Bengaluru airport has an initial capacity of 11 million passengers with future plans including expansion of the terminal and runways and commercial development, including business centers, tax-free shops, entertainment centers,malls and office space.