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Due to the contrarian views I put forth, readers of my blog may get the impression that I am Anti-BIAL.
Nothing can be further from the truth. I am NOT against Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) at all. BIA is a required addition to Bangalore, and I have always admired the efforts put in by the whole team at the BIAL consortium, and their contractors, and have always congratulated BIAL CEO Mr. Brunner, on a job well done.
My main point of contention is only around the airport capacity in Bangalore, and the high fee structure.
Thanks to years of neglect by the Government Aviation fraternity, Bangalore’s air traffic and economy has been suppressed. No one, me included, have anticipated the rate of growth, let alone plan for it. Since 2004, I have prepared regular reports for the some of the Industry Chambers on the air traffic scenario, and I am happy to say, each one of my projections has been surpassed by actual performance.
I have given praise to BIAL and I am critical of BIAL, when required. There are many realities that are not exposed in the everyday media.
Less than 20% of an airport is the passenger terminal(s). 80% is in other facilities, services, and an airport’s role in the local economy. I think most people are getting enamoured by the terminal and forgetting the rest.
Thanks to my passion for aviation, and having travelled the better part of my life, across global airports, the great to the ugly, and I have studied airports.
I welcome BIAL, but not exclusively.
For too long Bangalore and its residents have endured infrastructure playing catch-up with demand. To ensure, that Bangalore, at least in this one instance, is ahead of the demand curve, I feel HAL is required to operate in additional to BIAL. My optimism for Bangalore is so strong, that I strongly recommend to Government that we need to be planning our third airport, instead of debating about the first and second.
The management of AAI Bangalore, and HAL, know how relentless I have been in pushing them to provide better services and achieve more results for Bangalore. I have sat up for nights on end observing the processes, and along with highly qualified colleagues from industry, proposed processes to ensure good service. Its a pity that the apathy of headquarters politics and bureaucracy of various agencies involved at the airport quashed the push.
Bangalore epitomises the new India, PM Manmohan Singh is rumoured to have said “If Bangalore fails, India fails”. We have to set and expect significantly higher standard, especially from a world class organisation like Zurich Airport. I honestly believe that the BIAL team is very capable, and I look forward to more from them, in the years to come.
If you consider the cost of land, connectivity, and scrapping of various existing infrastructure, the BIA is going to cost the Bangalore and Indian tax payer at least 15,000 Crore, if not more. We should demand and get our money’s worth.
In the new resurgent India, we are finally attempting to jettison the yoke of monopolies, and getting ready to welcome the Competition Commission. In the changed economic environment, BIAL will still earn its investment many times over, even with HAL airport operating alongside.
I welcome comments on my blog. With pride I can say, as long as there is no offensive language, I will post any comment, no matter how positive or negative, of my views, it is.
sorry to hear about your mother’s accident. hope she is doing well now.
thanks for all the info and your tireless efforts. i personally learnt many a things. you have highlighted many areas where bia has to pick up its game. i personally have also enjoyed your language. not everyday you get to read such prose on blogs.
there is a lot of value to what you are pointing out. but i am not sure, if it flows naturally from your arguments that hal is to be kept open to compensate for the shortcomings of bia. i dont see how hal can compensate for bia’s shortcomings all. for me the most compelling argument for hal is that it is a strategic counter weight to bia.
udf is one of the things that bial should be knocked into senses about, especially until the regulatory body is set up. for atleast 25 years they are going to have a free range leasing out land in the airport area. that should take care of most of the business side concerns of bial. i am sure they are going to earn more than the industry norm of 18% on investment.
about land, i dont understand what you mean by sold. at the end of concession period, the entire airport including land is going to be reverted back to the city isn’t it?
regarding cargo and the facility 7kms from bia, are you talking about the horticulture market that KA govt is working on?