As many as 32 daily flight movements from the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) have been rescheduled from Saturday for the air show during the Aero India 2013 at the Yelahanka Air Force Station nearby.
The BIA will be shut for three-and-a-half hours daily till February 10.
Closure hours
The airport announced the shutdown between 10.30 a.m. and noon and also between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. from February 2 to 10 barring February 5 when the airport shutdown will be restricted to morning hours.
“A total of 32 flights, of which 18 movements are in the morning, have been rescheduled. As the scheduled shutdown is in the non-peak hours, it is not going to affect many flights,” BIAL spokesperson told The Hindu . “We don’t anticipate stranding of travellers.”
Further, the spokesperson acknowledged that though the closure hours were restricted to less than two hours, some management was required. The airport, with the assistance of the Air Traffic Control, would be involved in quick aircraft moments before and after the shutdown, the spokesperson added.
Ancillary support by airport taxi and bus service providers has been aligned to accommodate the increase in anticipated traffic resulting in increased commuting time for passengers flying out of BIA, a release from Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) said.
Meanwhile, the national carrier, Air India, has announced revised schedule of six morning flights (applicable till February 10 only). They include flights departing to Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai via Kochi and flights arriving here from Mumbai, Delhi via Chennai and Male (Maldives) via Thiruvananthapuram.
One-way
Some portions of National Highway 7 will be made one-way for easy flow of traffic from February 6, Additional Commissioner M.A. Saleem said after holding a meeting with senior officials on Friday on traffic arrangements in view of Aero India.
Alternative routes from Nagawara, Hegde Nagar, Thanisandra, Hennur and Bagalur had been identified, he said, and added that details would be announced on Monday.
According to him, about 750 traffic police personnel will be deployed to facilitate smooth movement of traffic on the highway. Around 50 BMTC buses will be operated to the venue from across the city and about 20 acres of land has been earmarked for parking.
