Civil aviation ministry officials to inspect BIAL facilities

New Delhi: A team of officials from the ministry of civil aviation will inspect facilities at the Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) on 19 August. The inspection results from adverse remarks made by a Airports Authority of India (AAI) investigation into the facilities being offered at the new airport.

Ministry officials are also expected to hold a meeting with State government and BIAL officials regarding passenger amenities and other related issues.

It is being given to understand that the AAI report has concluded that the airport suffered from severe capacity constraints, which was putting passengers to great inconvenience. Apparently, the report also observes that against the 12-20 per cent allotted space for commercial utilisation, BIAL had instead used up to 30 per cent of the space.

Problems faced by the passengers was particularly acute in the security hold area, the report has noted, including lack of toilets.

The report is understood to have recommended initiating moves for a second terminal, saying that the airport was already brimming to capacity. As far as the issue of terminal capacity was concerned, the report submitted by AAI member (planning), VP Agarwal, points out that the airport was actually built to handle a capacity of less than 10 million passengers, even though BIAL claims that the capacity is 11.4 million.

The report apparently also suggests that the issue of the reopening of the old HAL airport, closed after the 23 May inauguration of the new airport, may also be looked into.