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Bad News : ATC not ready, new airport will take off 2-4 weeks late
Written By arunvishvin - 11 March, 2008
The Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) has hit a major air pocket. The inauguration of the new airport — scheduled for March 30 — will be delayed by 2-4 weeks as per recommendations of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“The airport will not open on the scheduled opening date. Even the civil aviation minister has agreed to the postponement,” said ministry sources.
The new inauguration date will be announced within a week. “Another meeting is expected on Tuesday in which the DGCA and the Airports Authority of India will present another report,” the sources said.
In a report to the ministry on Monday, the DGCA said certain safety norms at the airport are not up to the standards, especially those of the ATC tower. The new airport is expected to handle 480 movements a day in summer and close to 550 a day in winter.
A senior official in Delhi corroborated this: “Several things are not in place yet, the most important of which is the ATC. Hence, the airport cannot be operational. The commissioning has been postponed by 2-4 weeks depending on how much time the developers take to finish their work.’’
“Certain equipment required for the proper functioning of the ATC has not been put in place. Once this is done, one would need more time to test it,” said DGCA sources.
The decision is the outcome of a joint inspection conducted on Friday by the officials of the ministry, AAI and DGCA. The officials were not fully satisfied with the infrastructure, particularly the ATC tower.
BIAL officials were unavailable for comment. BIAL CEO Albert Brunner is out of the country. PM Manmohan Singh, who had agreed to inaugurate the airport on March 30, is said have changed his schedule.
The 33-month timeframe for the airport to be completed was decided keeping in mind that the airport would become operational for the summer season.
Courtesy : Times Of India dt 11-3-2008.
COMMENTS
christopher - 11 March, 2008 - 16:17
Ridiculous that these issues are coming up at this time. The ATC issue, connectivity issue should have been thought about long time ago. This is not a kid's high school project thats going on. The newspapers too seem to be on an overtime, reporting these drawbacks now.
arunvishvin - 11 March, 2008 - 06:23
Namd0gma1 - 11 March, 2008 - 08:35
It looks like the forces are in action full time here. The lobby behind the HAL airport continuation seems to be pretty strong. I may sound pretentious but HIAL has never ever seen such comments from the ministry. Is it the congress backing working overtime on such things? Unfortunately, the state cannot put a point across in the current political context. It does not take 33 months for the ministry to notice that there are only 25 ATC's instead of 70 and make this point a show stopper at the nth moment. Not sure where all this is going
BIAL CEO, Mr. Albert Brunner refutes these delay news ......
kbsyed61 - 11 March, 2008 - 14:42
March 11, 2008
Bengaluru International Airport to commence operations on March 30, 2008
In response to media reports on the postponement of the airport opening date of Bengaluru
International Airport, BIAL has confirmed that it will begin operations on March 30, 2008 as
scheduled.
BIAL demonstrated airport readiness with the successful flight trials conducted on March 7,
2008. During the trials, BIAL had committed to delivering the new international airport to the
city of Bangalore on March 30, 2008, while the inauguration is scheduled for March 28, 2008.
“We have not received any information validating newspaper reports,” said Albert Brunner,
CEO, BIAL.
About Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL)
BIAL is a Public Limited Company under Indian Companies Act formed to build, own and
operate Bangalore‘s Greenfield private sector-owned and operated airport – the Bengaluru
International Airport. Private promoters hold a 74% stake in BIAL while the State holds the
remaining 26%. Spread over 4000 acres, with an investment of Rs 2470 crores, the Bengaluru
International Airport will have the capacity to handle eleven million passengers in its first
year of operation. The airport will handle a future passenger capacity of up to 50 million.
For any clarification, please contact
Anjana Kher Murray/ Monica Mascarenhas Prabhu
Bangalore International Airport Ltd.,
118, Gayathri Lakefront, Outer Ring Road,
Hebbal, Bangalore - 560024, India.
Phone: +91 80 2354 0000
E-Mail: akm@bialairport.com or monica@bialairport.com
tsubba - 25 March, 2008 - 01:20
AAI flights develop snag at BIA
(RADAR SIMULATOR YET TO BE FIXED) Rasheed Kappan, DH News
The simulator equipment was to be installed by March 5. The deadline was extended to March 20. But till Monday, there was no indication when the critical radar simulator facility would be ready for training. “At this rate, the May 11 deadline would be ‘touch and go.’ The controllers will need at least 45 days’ training on the simulator,’” a top airport official told Deccan Herald.
Sources said the software for the radar simulator had not even reached Devanahalli. Training would be easy in a running airport, not in a simulated environment. Thus the need for 45 days, explained an airport source.
Calibration process
Meanwhile, the calibration process for various Air Traffic Control (ATC) equipment at BIA was hit after the AAI aircraft reportedly developed a snag. The Dornier aircraft had carried out several flight sorties on March 13 and 14, but the pilots left after the snag. “There are some gaps. The process will take some more time. There is also a problem of getting pilots,” said an official.
While the calibration for the Doppler High Frequency Omni Radar was completed, the process for the Instrument Landing System was pending, sources said. Once the various ATC equipment are calibrated, they have to be switched on and kept in hot standby mode for 1,000 hours to help the personnel get adequately familiarised with the process.
Hyderabad incident
A KLM Dutch airline pilot’s difficulty in finding the new Shamshabad airport in Hyderabad on Sunday has brought the air safety issue back in sharp focus. The pilot had reportedly failed to get the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) about the closure of the old Begumpet airport and the Sunday launch of the new Shamshabad airport.
In the light of this episode, DGCA would have to make sure that it gets adequate time to issue a worldwide AIRAC-NOTAM, a standard requirement to alert pilots globally about a new permanent aeronautical facility, much before BIA becomes commercially operational.
No airport can be commissioned before this notice becomes part of the Jeppessen Chart, a very critical document mandatorily carried by pilots worldwide.
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