Govt signs deal with BIA for private airport

NEW DELHI, JULY 6 (AGENCIES)The govt has signed a concession agreement for India's first all-new private airport with Bangalore International Airport.

The government has signed a concession agreement with Bangalore International Airport, BIA. This is India's first private airport and the work on it may finally take off, though it is yet to achieve financial closure.

With the central government signing the concession agreement, BIA should hopefully take off, though there have been many false starts in the past. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is clearly a man in a hurry. The concession agreement for India's first all new private airport comes close on Cabinet approval for privatization of Delhi and Mumbai airports.

Patel said, "As far as civil aviation is concerned, our theme has been clear from day one. Our aim is to expand the sector in India, such that public and private sectors both can expand."

BIA is a public private partnership. 74% of the state’s Rs 1,300 crore project is held by the Siemens-led consortium, which includes Zurich airport and L&T. A Karnataka government agency and the Airports' Authority of India hold the rest equally. September 2007 is when it is supposed to start functioning. To ensure that airport gets enough traffic, the existing HAL airport will not be allowed to handle international traffic.

Albert Brunner, CEO, Bangalore International Airport Ltd, said, "We would like to focus on passenger comfort and smooth passenger flow. One of the important things we are keeping in mind is transfer from international to domestic within the same terminal."