Bangalore International Airport, India

The new Bangalore International Airport built on the city outskirts opened on 23 May 2008. The switch to the new airport will took place at midnight. All flights landing and departing after midnight, and flights arriving before midnight and departing after midnight began to operate from the new airport.

The airport began construction in July 2005 and following endless government and airport authority negotiations the project's first phase (conceived in 1993) got underway.

The terminal and airport went through some last-minute design changes in late 2005 to accommodate an increase in the expected passenger traffic for the projected opening date in 2008.

The redesign of the airport project is based on the revision of traffic forecast done in June 2005. The study estimated traffic flows for the new Bangalore International Airport on airport opening year (2008) at 6.7 million passengers. Subsequently, this figure is expected to climb to 8.5 million passengers for the year 2010.

The redesign has seen an increase in the size of the passenger terminal building, number of aircraft stands, taxiways, passenger boarding bridges and the main access road enabling the airport to match the expected traffic in the coming years.

The airport will open with a capacity for 11 million passengers a year and able to handle 27 aircraft an hour.

BANGALORE AND THE NEED FOR THE AIRPORT

The metropolitan area of Bangalore has been one of the most neglected areas in India for international travel connections despite the area's burgeoning technology prowess.

Bangalore is known as the silicon valley of India and very soon it will be one of the largest biotechnology hubs in India as well. Many business commentators have stated time and again that international airport facilities for Bangalore are essential for its continuing success in both commercial areas and in the tourist industry.

Not only will the airport initially attract between six and seven million passengers per year but it will also employ upwards of 4,500 staff to run the facility.

One of the main problems has been the lack of foreign investment due to the continuing total control of all Indian airports by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The Indian Parliament has now passed new legislation to allow airports to stay in private ownership (there was much opposition to this privatisation, which initially affects Mumbai and Delhi airports; in February 2006 this opposition included riots, strikes and hunger strikes).

The estimated investment for the first phase of the project is $288m (Rs1,300 crore), $80m (Rs350 crore) which is to come from the Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (KSIIDC). ICICI Bank has agreed to underwrite the entire financial debt amounting to Rs1,300 crore.

The airport will be administered by Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL). The project, involving an area of 4,300 acres, is planned at Devanahalli, some 40km from Bangalore.

CONTRACTORS AND CONSTRUCTION

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is the company that will design, build, own and operate the first Greenfield private sector-owned and operated airport in India.

Private promoters hold a 74% stake in BIAL while the state holds the remaining 26%. The project is being undertaken by a foreign consortium consisting of Siemens, Zurich Airport and Lauren and Toubro. These three companies all hold equity in the project although at the moment overall operations and financial control would still fall to the AAI. The share holding of the project works out as follows:

• AAI: 13%
• Karnataka Government: 13%
• Larsen and Tourbo: 17%
• Unique Zurich Airport: 17%
• Siemens Project Ventures: 40%

The airport is being designed by Kaufmann and Van der Meer Planer AG of Switzerland. The civil engineering and construction work began in earnest in July 2005. The company responsible for this contract is Larsen and Tourbo of India.

Operations and maintenance services are currently being negotiated between Unique Zurich Airport and BIAL. The contract for construction of all airport facilities is being shared between Siemens, Zurich Airport and Lauren and Toubro.

BIAL has a contract with the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) and Siemens Ltd India for the job of equipping the airport in Bangalore with technical systems. The contract includes the supply, engineering and installation of airfield lighting, the IT and communication systems, the baggage handling system as well as the power supply and the building services automation system. The order is valued at approximately €58m.

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS

Of the total site area of 4,300ac, around 2,000ac will be occupied by the runways, terminal buildings and air traffic control towers. The remaining land will be used for other related infrastructure including the State Government's hardware technology park, extended air cargo terminals and cold storage facilities for horticulture products. The idea of leasing land for a hotel with recreational facilities for travellers is being considered. Larsen and Toubro will undertake the construction.

The airport terminal buildings will occupy 46,000m² (main terminal 31,000m²) and the two runways, 4,000m x 200m (additional land is being purchased for another runway to be built in Phase 2 (completion expected by late 2006), parallel to an existing runway at Yelahanka Air Force Station).

The apron area will cover 182,000m². There will be 40 aircraft stands, 35 check-in counters and seven passenger gates to facilitate multiple flights around the same time. Five aerobridges in the first phase will enable direct access to aircraft from the terminal.

The airport facilities will also include a large retail centre, a multi cuisine food court area and an adventure play area / day care facilities for the children of passengers. The terminal itself will have three floors; domestic arrivals and baggage handling / claim will be on the ground floor, international arrivals on the second floor, and domestic and international departures on the first floor.

As of September 2006 about 20% of the runway construction had been completed and the air traffic control tower had reached 47m of its final 65m in height.

PARTNERS FOR AIRPORT SERVICES

Bangalore International Airport will be the first airport in India to operate under a truly open-access model. This allows every qualified fuel supplier to use the facility against a fixed throughput fee and allows airlines to get the best fuel prices available in the market.

BIAL has selected its strategic partner for the new airport's aviation fuel facility. The consortium is Indian Oil / Indian Oiltanking / Skytanking. Indian Oil is the largest oil company and also the largest aviation fuel company in India. Skytanking is a major independent jet fuel handling company and operates various aviation fuel facilities worldwide, especially in Europe and the United States. It is owned by the Hamburg-based company Marquard and Bahls. Indian Oiltanking is a 50/50 Joint Venture between Indian Oil and Marquard and Bahls. Each party holds one third in the equity of the consortium.

BIAL has also selected catering partners. These are LSG Sky Chefs and Taj SATS. Each of the selected consortiums is responsible for the design, construction, finance and operation of the flight kitchen at the new Bangalore International Airport. The combined investment is approximately INR70 crores and the duration of the contract is 15 years. BIAL may award a third license for air catering at a later date.

ROAD AND RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE

The airport site is located 34km from Bangalore (Vidhana Soudha). To improve the commute between Bangalore and Hyderabad the NH-6 and NH-7 (Bellary Road) are being expanded to six-lane highways by the National Highway Authority of India. The newly expanded roads will be tolled expressways and are being constructed by the Malaysian company Ara Corporation.

Additional roads that join these expressways with the airport access road (through Hoskote and Hebbal) are to be upgraded to four-lane expressways – these will not be tolled. These road infrastructure enhancements will improve access to the new Bangalore International Airport and were completed in 2004.

The Indian railway authority is also planning to construct a railway terminal at the airport to run a special shuttle from Cantonment railway station to the new airport.

SURROUNDING AREA

Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli will be surrounded by some of the most eco-friendly settlements and no development will be allowed on the natural river valleys in the area. This is despite the fact that there will be greater population pressure in the area.

According to the Outline Development Plan (ODP) notified by the Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority (BIAAPA) – the primary land-use sanctioning authority for the area – no development will be allowed to destroy the natural river valley network in Doddaballapur, Devanahalli and Vijayapura in the outskirts of the city.

BIAAPA are also proposing to mandate rainwater harvesting in the airport, as water is one resource that the region and its residents are short of. The airport area – covering three towns and 347 villages – will ensure the entire course of water resources and catchment areas are maintained.

The ODP, projecting land-use zoning in the next 15 years, also proposes separate sewage treatment plants for each of the major towns. The population in the area is likely to grow from 2,000 to over 10,000 by the time the airport is finished in 2008 and the water resources required for this additional population would be 90 to 100 million litres of water per day. Clearly in these areas careful planning is required to allocate and conserve resources.

CARGO

The consortium sees the airport with an initial cargo capacity of 140,000t/y of cargo. But this is expected to grow to 250,000t/y to 300,000t/y by 2012. In May 2006 two cargo consortia were awarded 20-year concessions by BIAL. These were the Air India / SATS group and the Bobba Group / Menzies Aviation consortium.

AIRLINES

International airlines including Lufthansa and Malaysian Airline System are already flying to Bangalore, but the absence of an international airport is seen as a barrier to its growth. When the new airport becomes operational the operators from the airport will be:

• Lufthansa
• Malaysian Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• Sri Lankan Airlines