Tag Archives: BIAL

The Deccan Herald reports that the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) consortium has filed a default notice about 10 days ago against the Union civil aviation ministry asking it to make good losses of Rs 23 crore. BIAL claims it had incurred the losses and indirectly held the ministry responsible for it — its complaint was the failure to clear …

After 7 years, Mr. Albert Brunner will not be extending his contract with Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) which comes to an end in early 2009, and will step down as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Brunner who joined BIAL as CEO in 2002 is synonymous with the new Bengaluru International Airport. He is expected to take up another overseas assignment …

The Deccan Chronicle reports, the 21-member Joint House Committee (JHC) headed by BJP MLA Hemachandra Sagar, to look into perceived lapses by Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) wants a complete makeover for Bengaluru International Airport. But BIAL has baulked at the idea, particularly as the bill for the face-lift touches Rs 1,000 crore. “The committee is of the opinion that …

About 40 days ago, I had raised the issue of a “Sanity Check” on the proposed High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to Bengaluru International Airport. The issues I raised were : Sanity Check 1: Who is the target customer of the HSRL ? Sanity Check 2: Convenience Sanity Check 3: Close integration with Namma Metro and BMTC Sanity Check 4: …

The Deccan Chronicle reports that the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) is ready to roll out the User Development Fee (UDF) for Bengaluru International Airport Limited which is likely to cheer air passengers but leave the promoters red faced. While the UDF for domestic passengers will be Rs 375, international travellers will have to fork out Rs 1,000 every time …

Bengaluru International Airport announced the completion of six months of airport operations. The new greenfield airport opened on 24-May-08. 80% of the aircrafts departed on time with 15 mins tolerance, as per the internationally accepted norms. Average wait time for delivery of the first baggage on the arrival belt being 9 minutes for domestic and 13 minutes for international arrivals. …

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major confirmed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has cleared the construction of the second runway at Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). As per the BIAL master plan, the second runway (27L-09R), will come up to the south of the airport. The promoters of the airport, BIAL, have been pushing for …

At one time, Singapore Airlines SQ was the most dominant international airline in Bangalore, operating 12 flights a week. A daily night flight and a morning flight 5 days a week. No more. The new title holder is Emirates operating as many as 3 flights a day. Citing diminishing demand, from October 26, 2008 onwards, SQ has discontinued the 5 …

I have been a dog-lover since childhood. I grew up with Silky, a Lhasa Apso, Snooty and Growler, two Spitzes. In the US, Keesha, a Keeshound kept me company. Today our family includes two Champions, Brandy, an Irish Setter, and Isis, the only female Giant Schnauzer in India. I flew with Isis from the USA to Bangalore HAL airport, without …

According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global international traffic results for September, with passenger traffic declining 2.9%, compared to the same month in 2007. International load factors tumbled by 4.4% percentage points from August to 74.8% in September. Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO said, “The deterioration in traffic …

The Press Trust of India reports that the Government’s decision to shut down the old Bangalore airport could come under fresh legal scrutiny with a parliamentary panel asking civil aviation ministry to respond to charges of “irregularities” in the concession agreement it has signed with the airport developer. Quoting records of its hearings with the ministry, Airports Authority of India, …

In what is sure to be a shock, to both the BIAL and HIAL consortia, the Deccan Chronicale reports, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, on Thursday October 23, recommended immediate withdrawal of user development fees (UDF) being charged by Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports. It said the private operators had invested only Rs 330 crore and Rs …

Madhumathi D.S. of the Hindu Business Line reports that the 5 month young Bengaluru International Airport, which was expected to have a dream take-off on the back of phenomenal traffic growth during 2005-08, now seems to be going slow on its expansion plan in the face of a traffic decline. “There has been a dramatic fall in monthly traffic for …

K.V. Subramanya and Anil Kumar Sastry at the Hindu report that the domestic passenger traffic at Bengaluru International Airport is down. Short-haul domestic air traffic has dropped drastically, and shifted away from the air to surface transport like buses, trains and cars. BIAL is suffering the double blow of a slowdown in the domestic aviation industry which has forced increases …

I read the following story in the TravelBizMonitor (TBM) with a big pinch of salt. In paragraph two of the TBM article, Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman, Kingfisher Airlines, is quoted as saying he is completely against charging the UDF as part of the ticket. Yet airlines are perfectly at ease over-charging passengers a “transaction fee” to cover the travel agent …

Two newspaper articles, published in Bangalore today, concerning BIAL, the company promoting Bengaluru International Airport, deeply saddened me, despite proving my claims right. Readers will recall, for the past year, in public and on this blog, I have been claiming that the growth rate of aviation in Bangalore, was beyond the capacity of the new BIAL airport. My article “The …

After reading the below story in The Mint, I can only shake my head and say …”oh no not again!!!”. Both Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) and Air Force Station (AFS) Yelahanka are vital to Bangalore. AFS Yelahanka is the premier training facility for the Indian Air Force (IAF) transport wing, and home to the internationally renowned AeroIndia show, which brings …

Back in June, I led a high level delegation of industries on a visit of the air cargo facilities run by Menzies Aviation Bobba Group, and Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services at Bengaluru International Airport. (Read that article). We observed that the Indian Customs Authority did not have a full presence at BIAL airport, despite earlier assurances to Industry …

Quietly, the team at BIAL, has been fixing the problems, to produce a smooth running and efficient airport. On Saturday, 6-Sep-2008, I had the pleasure of visiting the new Bengaluru International Airport as a guest of BIAL Chief Operating Officer Marcel Hungelbuehler and Chief Commercial Officer Manisha Grover. I thank them for the hospitality and the openness. The BIAL airport …

Congratulations to the entire team at Bengaluru International Airport Limited for achieving 100 days of operations. I also acknowledge the hard work put in the two cargo terminal operators Menzies Aviation-Bobba and Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services, and all the other stake-holders at the BIAL airport. Most of the initial teething troubles have been addressed and rectified and the engagement …