2nd innings for HAL airport?

January 29, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:31 am IST - BENGALURU:

Will the city’s old HAL airport, closed for commercial airlines since May 2008, have a second innings next year?

R.K. Tyagi, who superannuates on Saturday as Chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, offered the hope yet again at a farewell news conference on Wednesday.

He said it is "fundamentally illogical" to close a working international airport that was handling 12 million passengers a year just because a new airport must come up. HAL had lost Rs 1,500 crore in revenue in the last six years.

Short-haul flights

He said, "The way things are going, I'm sure that in the next one year, there is ample possibility of reopening the airport for short haul flights."

The Kempegowda International Airport at Devanahalli is planning a second runway. HAL would supplement KIA, not compete with it.

Dr. Tyagi said, "We have spoken about [reopening] the HAL airport with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Three months ago, we also wrote to the Competition Commission. The Defence Minister is also understood to have addressed the issue."

Jet trainer

On the level-2 Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), Director (Design) T. Suvarna Raju said HAL will test-fly the modified ‘spin version’ in 15 days and ready it for initial operational clearance this year.

The proposed 600-acre helicopter unit at Tumkur should be ready after 24 months, Dr. Tyagi said.

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