For the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the approval by the Centre to allow operations of Airbus A380 has come at time when the airport has just upgraded its infrastructure.
On Monday, the Ministry removed the restrictions on A380 operations at four airports across the country. The other three being Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, and the A380 operations are subject to the overall traffic entitlements within the bilateral Air Service Agreements (ASAs) with different countries.
The airport operator, Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), has completed the expansion of terminal T1 at a cost of Rs. 1,500 crore, involving upgradation of facilities to host A380. Though the infrastructure was inaugurated in the second week of December, the airport is awaiting approval of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to operate the facilities at the new terminal.
“The upgradation at KIA included modification of the runway, boarding bridges to enable faster boarding and alighting of passengers and baggage handling facilities, besides upgrading facilities in the terminal to enhance capacity,” sources said. “Without these modifications and increased manpower, it would be impossible to manage A380 operations that is expected to bring more than 500 passengers at a time.” The International Civil Aviation Organisation has listed Boeing 747-800 (8) aircraft and Airbus A380 aircraft as ‘Çode F’ aircraft that are much bigger aircraft in length and wing span in comparison with other aircraft.
