Ready to take off

CHENNAI/BENGALURU: Flying from Chennai to Hosur will soon be possible as Bengaluru airport has agreed to give permission for operating flights from Hosur. The airport handled by a private firm has been included in Udan scheme but flights could not be operated as it needed NoC from nearest airport. BIAL has now agreed with a few conditions. The TN government has been asking the Union government to speed up opening of Hosur airport.

Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha told Parliament in response to a question that "Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has agreed to give permission to Hosur airport to operate under certain conditions, which are yet to be cleared by the Hosur airport authorities".

Hosur airport, located in Belagondapalli village on Thally Road in Krishnagiri district, is maintained by Pune-based Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL) and has been included in the regional connectivity scheme Udan. Turbo Aviation was awarded Chennai-Hosur-Chennai route under phase one allotment of routes for Udan. The airport would benefit residents in South Bengaluru as it is closer to Electronic City than BIAL, which is two hours away by road.

Hosur is expected to emerge as a second choice for passengers from Chennai to reach Bengaluru in addition to the Bengaluru international airport as those headed to Electronic City can land at Hosur.

It takes only 30 minutes by road to reach Hosur from Electronic City, while it takes almost two hours to reach Bengaluru airport.

A senior official of Airports Authority of India said that BIAL was trying to put in a condition that only Udan flights should be operated from Hosur. "If only Udan flights, which are operated by small planes, are operated, the airport will not pose much of a competition for BIAL on domestic routes as non-Udan flights cannot be operated for the initial two years from Hosur," he added.

V Umesh, managing director of Hyderabad-based Turbo Aviation, which was selected to operate domestic flights under the Udan scheme from Hosur, said: "We are ready to operate services from Hosur under Udan scheme. We are waiting for an NoC from TAAL to launch the services but we have been told that they are yet to complete the upgradation work at the airport."

Salil Taneja, director of TAAL did not respond to messages, emails and calls.

Sources say TAAL needs to invest to upgrade the Hosur airport which requires terminal and air traffic control facilities before commencing the commercial operations. However, it has a 2,168-metre long runway that can handle 70-seater ATR planes and A320 planes.

The NoC from BIAL has delayed the flight operations from both state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which operates Bengaluru's old airport and TAAL.

BIAL refused to comment on the issue.

