Airports

Opinion: Bangalore airport should disclose full details of premature runway surface failure

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Late last month, the airport operators of the Bengaluru International Airport announced a closure of the sole runway (09-27) starting from March 11, which will result in a suspension of all flight operations during the day, effectively shutting down the whole airport. Runway 09 at Bangalore airport The operators, Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), indicated the runway closure was being …

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Photos and Video: Bangalore airport terminal 1 to be expanded almost 100%

The operators of the Bengaluru international airport (BIA), Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), have announced a massive expansion of the existing terminal 1 which is expected to commence almost immediately, cost about Rs. 1,000 Crore (approx $222 million) and complete in about 18 months time. Outline of existing terminal indicates the scope of expansion. Click on image for high res. …

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Bangalore airport’s hidden brain – the Airport Operation Control Centre

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Sitting directly opposite the western-most arrivals gate, in plain sight and yet missed by most passengers is the hidden nerve centre of Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) – the Airport Operations Control Centre or AOCC in short. The AOCC is the command, coordination and control centre for the whole airport which brings together the diverse processes relating to the three major …

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Lufthansa opens new lounge at Munich; offers end to end Mumbai Munich premium service

Even during the current economic slowdown and it’s resultant impact on premium air travel, Lufthansa is continuing it’s ongoing investment in lounges. It recently opened the Lufthansa Senator Lounge at Munich. With the Munich lounge, Lufthansa now offers a complete end to end premium experience for passengers on its recently launched all business class Mumbai Munich service. The new lounge …

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Encroachments cramp one of Asia’s best runways at Delhi airport

Thanks to rampant encroachment, over one-third of one of Asia’s longest and best runways, 11-29 at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport cannot be used. At any airport, two measurements are crucial for pilots for every runway. Landing Distance Available (LDA) and Take Off Run Available i.e. how much of the runway length is actually usable for flight operations. The …

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Proposal to rename Bengaluru International Airport

I received call earlier this evening from the news media soliciting my reactions to the news that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has proposed to the Union Government the renaming of the Bengaluru International Airport, after the founder founder of Bangalore, Kempegowda. The name of an airport may not mean much, but I am happy and thankful that the airport is …

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Wi-Fi access at Bengaluru International Airport

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

Passengers departing from Bengaluru International Airport can enjoy wireless internet access. Inside the terminal, using your GSM cell phone, send an SMS “WIFI BIAL” to 56677 and you will receive the wi-fi password on your cellphone. The speed is quite decent. Alternately in the departure hall, fire up your laptop, switch on your wi-fi, open your browser and follow the …

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Sanity Check: A Namma Metro link to Bengaluru International Airport

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

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: …

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Airlines instructed not to carry pets to Bangalore

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 …

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Hard work at BIAL results in significant improvement

On Friday, 20-June-2008, I took a flight out of BIAL airport. As my pictorial essay shows, the hard work, by the stake holders at BIAL, is showing results, in the form of significant improvements.Getting to the airport While the distance to the new airport is significant, I have always maintained that connectivity to the airport was not a major problem. …

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BIAL has much more than just “teething troubles”

I am an angry Bangalorean today. For two months, we have been hearing stories as to how the new Bengaluru International Airport was FULLY ready, and that the Government was denying the BIAL permission to commence operations of its new airport, thus causing untold losses to the consortium. Looking to prevent a repeat of the fiasco following the launch of …

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Transport and Parking at Bengaluru International Airport

December 2008 update. For updated and detailed BMTC Vayu Vajra Volvo airport bus and taxi information, click on the BIA Bus & taxi link on the top menu. For real time flight arrivals and flight departures information use the respective links on the top menu bar or the Real time Flightstats widget at the bottom of the “Recommended Articles” section …

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Beware …. Pedestrians

The new Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) will be opened on May 11, 2008. The Election Commission may not have permitted any festivities and gala celebrations, but then, we Bangaloreans, are more interested in the long overdue additional capacity of the new airport. Various government agencies are busy upgrading or creating roads, to improve access to the airport for the expected …

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The REAL capacity of Bengaluru International Airport

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

HAL airport has shown us that terminal capacity is far more flexible than runway capacity. After all, we Bangaloreans, who use the terminal, are temperate accommodating people, and as frugal Indians, it is in our nature to always try and extract the maximum from any precious resource, especially infrastructure. Runway capacity on the other hand, is dictated by the hard, …

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