As controversy brews over the new Hyderabad and Bangalore airports, the big debate is whether one airport is enough for cities growing at a fast pace. CNN-IBN aviation correspondent Karma Paljor interacted with IBNLive.com readers and answered their questions in an online chat.
Durga: Does the newly constructed Hyderabad International Airport meets at least the international standards in terms of service/quality? As it is a private enterprise, who owns the responsibility of the security?
Karma Paljor: The responsibility of security is with the government. The Hyderabad International Airport got its operating license only after the Director General of Civil Aviation inspected it as per international standards.
Mathew John: Is there a decision as yet on the present Banglaore airport?
Karma Paljor: No, the government is still working on it.
Iman: Can the airlines company provide buses in those two cities for picking up the passengers? The buses could come to some important bus stops at a regulation of one hour or so. I think it will bring some relief to the passengers who are facing issues with travelling to the new airport. A reasonable fare could be charged for the bus pick-up. I remember Indian Airlines had this service earlier.
Karma Paljor: I think the two airports are already providing shuttle services to these airports.
John Kottoor: Instead of fully private airports, what is your opinion on government stake in the airports? The reason being, many key decisions on connectivity are to be ensured by the government. Having a share would add pressure on the government to act on it. The article on Cochin airport two days ago, marking it a huge success considering the lowest cost, high profitability and so on…
Karma Paljor: The government or rather the Airports Authority does have a share in all the new airports which are being built. For example Delhi and Mumbai.
Vishnu: The simple fact is that it does not take more than one and a half hour to reach the new airport in Bangalore from anywhere in the city. I have personally travelled from 3 locations. At a prime time of about 7 PM, it took me only 1 hour 30 minutes from the southern parts of the city. It is media hype about lack of connectivity. Added to this, the Bangalore Corporation is making magic box underpasses at all junctions from the city center to the highway and to the airport. Already 3 underpasses are almost ready and all will be ready by the opening date of May 11. Thus, I want to ask you why does the media come up with these irresponsible data based on no facts and fool people into believing that connectivity is bad. It is not perfect but it is certainly better than the road to the present airport, which is always jammed! Already it takes 1 hour from most places in the city to the present airport, the new airport adds just a little more!
Karma Paljor: Thank you for bringing it up sir. I am sure the authorities are doing the best to improve connectivity.
Job: This is regarding BIAL. Why can't we have two airports, and give the airline operators a flexibility to decide which flights they want to operate out of which airport, and place a mandate that half of their flights should be based out of BIAL? This will take care of dividing the traffic load evenly among the airports, and the total traffic throughout the city will get access to airports, which I think, will be a more optimal solution. What do you think?
Karma Paljor: Once we have two airports there will be competition. We will need an airport regulator, which we still don't have. Right now the HAL airport will win hands down because of its closeness to the city.
Shaun: I wanted to know about the second airport in Delhi(Greater Noida). Do you think the 150 km restriction will be removed and do you know if DIAL will allow an airport that will be a competition for theirs? What is the status?
Karma Paljor: The government is confident that they will have a second airport. The clearances are there and the aviation ministry is even looking to remove the 150 km restriction.
Phani Challa: Have you had a chance to visit the new Hyderabad Airport? If yes, please share your impressions in the sense how does it compare to airports over the world. Essentially has the public-private partnership delivered in Hyderabad case?
Karma Paljor: It is a great modern airport that they have built. However, a little more coordination with airlines and international aviation agencies would have helped.
Srikanth Inturi: Why is that a controversy is being surrounded even after constructing a world class airport in Hyderabad in record time and have far better facilities than that of Bangalore or any other airport in India and why don't we appreciate these world class future airports?
Karma Paljor: There are certain problems with these airports and the people are just airing their views. I guess in a democratic country like ours it is certainly acceptable.
Uday Mallya: I think having two airports for big cities is the need of the day. I think on one hand we are allowing low cost airlines and other premium airlines like Jet and Kingfisher to increase their services and on the other hand we are not giving them the right kind of infrastructure. This is totally unfair. With the increase in number of services, the traffic has increased. The existing airports like the one in Mumbai and Bangalore are in the midst of the city with no scope for expansion thus the need for a second airport is imminent. Apart from these cities, I think even the airports in Tier II and Tier III cities need to be upgraded.
Karma Paljor: Having two airports for metros like Delhi and Mumbai is certainly being given serious thought.
Ankit: It's really unfair to charge the development fee to even domestic travellers. Already the total fares for the no-frills carriers have increased substantially because of very high fuel surcharge. Do you think many middle-class people will refrain from travelling frequently and can it affect the low-fare companies? Another significant question is that given the high growth rate of the city and availability of rich, frequent passengers from Surat, don't you think the Surat airport should be quipped with facilities at par to get well-connected and even the aviation companies should look forward to grab this golden opportunity. Do you see some political conspiracy behind this negligence or some vested interests? I hope you answer both the questions, with more stress on the second one. Thank you.
Karma Paljor: I think Surat is going to be modernised very soon by the Airports Authority of India. This will be done along with the other 35 non-metro airports.
Kalyan: I am a student from IIT Madras working on ‘Risks in Airport privatisation'. What do you think are some of the major risks in Privatising airports in India? What do think on having an independent regulator for Airport Sector as we have TRAI for Telecom Sector?
Karma Paljor: The government has proposed an Airport Regulator. I think it is only a matter of a few months before we have one.
Adiga: The parliament has the legislative authority or the power to make a law that would facilitate the operations of two airports in a city. The BIAL airport is a disaster, as from day one it would be handling capacity near saturation.
Karma Paljor: I think the Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said that he will look into the issue and see if he can keep both airports open. There are legal issue the government will have to sort with BIAL.
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Aditya Badami: I must say it is a great initiative by IBN do cover a critical area. My question relates to the new Bangalore Airport and Shri Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad. When the PPP spends 2500 crores to build world-class airports, why do we citizens complain about it? How does the choice of two airports suddenly come up? We had one airport earlier and how no one spoke of a choice then. Instead of being proud of a new Airport we crib? Is there a reason to this?
Karma Paljor: We did speak to the new airport operator GMR they said that they have a committee which is just looking at easing connectivity to the airport from the city. I think Bangalore has far more problems.
KK Venugopal: Before going in for the ultra modern airports, the authorities should look into the infrastructure around the airport, like proper connecting road, transportation facilities like food courts, which are not very expensive.
Karma Paljor: Yes, I definitely agree. Look at the chaos in Bangalore. It looks like there was no cooperation between the state authorities and airport operator.
Arunap: Are private airports justified in charging exorbitant UDF? For even a cup of coffee in the new Hyderabad airport, one has to shell out 100 bucks and why another 1000 for UDF?
Karma Paljor: No. The Airport Regulator( which is still to be formed by the government) should have the last say and protect consumers like you and me.
Sam: You have become an aviation expert now. Only media persons have the luxury to don the hat of an expert in any field they desire. But lesser mortals like us have to go through the grind for years to become and expert in any field. I have no interest in your blog or your opinion, as I do not consider you an expert in this field. I have seen hundreds of airports myself all over the world and can confidently say that Indian airports are absolutely the worst in the world. Why the electronic media was sleeping over the issue for years and decades?
Karma Paljor: I an not an expert. I am just moderating a simple chat session on an airport series that we as a team in CNN IBN have worked on. I am glad you have seen the world. We have been covering airport stories for a long time.
Chirag: While it is difficult to be a pioneer in doing something, coping something (good) that is already existing should be never difficult. My question is, why in India are we finding it so difficult to copy the facilities and operational methods that are being practiced in great airports around the world?
Karma Paljor: We have been slow in taking off. It is the case of waiting for demand to increase and then build. But the problem is by the time you build the demand would have overtaken supply.
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Bala (Singapore): There was a plan to privatise the airports in India? Is this plan still on or has it been cancelled?
Karma Paljor: Delhi and Mumbai have been privatised. We have private airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore. There could be more, which could be given to private developers.
Shankar SP: I am restricting myself to Bangalore's case. Nobody, particularly air passengers (the most important stakeholders), have a clue as to what exactly is contained in the agreement between the Government of India, the Government of Karnataka and the Siemens consortium vis-a-vis the new Bangalore International Airport. For example, does the agreement spell out what exactly is the capacity of the new airport? This, in our opinion is the most important aspect of the project, on which hinges the operational capability of the Airport. We recall press reports that appeared around the time the agreement was signed, that the airport's capacity would be for 6.5 million passengers per annum. As of date the old HAL Airport is already handling (albeit in the midst of chaos) over 9.5 million passengers. And with a projected growth of about 22 per cent per annum (approximately 15 million by 2010), we need not two but three airports. And as far as the second runway is concerned we understand the IAF will not allow construction of the same due to security reasons (the Yelahanka airbase is located next door). Is all this not reason enough, to retain the second airport?
Karma Paljor: Looking at the increasing passenger traffic, the Bangalore International Airport was asked to make design changes which they did. But the connectivity is the biggest problem.
Karun Katyal: Do you think we should reduce airport charges to facilitate more airlines with more frequency of services to India can be possible. In this region we have highest navigational charges behind Changi but great differences in services of what Changi offers.
Karma Paljor: I guess that’s why India can never hope to become a hub for South Asia. I completely agree.
Adarsh Mohanty: The Airport(currently in use)in Bangalore is located in a place where the traffic condition is horrible. The traffic is thrown out of gear on the prime times. For that reason they have already made a new airport which is located at a far off distance from the city. But people are objecting to it as it takes almost 2-3 hours to reach the new airport. I don't understand what the authorities are doing about it.
Karma Paljor: The situation is really terrible. We have been highlighting this problem for a long time. It is complete lack of coordination between the state government and the airport operator.
Jayesh Bhowmik: People who fly domestic need to stay only 40 minutes to one hour at the airport, where a chair and a clean toilet will be sufficient. Why do they have to shell out the so-called user's fee for flying? Why don’t the airlines and the airport authority bear the cost?
Karma Paljor: The agreement between the government and the new airport operators did allow for user fee but the current price is certainly debatable. Therefore the need for an Airport Regulator becomes paramount. The government is still working to put a regulator in place.
Karun Katyal: I guess the problem in the New Delhi airport is delay in having additional runway and the AAI lacked vision in making additional facilities.
Karma Paljor: Yes, definitely. The good news is that the second runway is ready. By April, if they have the Air traffic controllers they will be able to do simultaneous runway operations. To be fair to AAI, they did have plans but they were asked to wait by the government.
Nagarajan: The new Hyderabad airport was managed by private players from Sunday midnight. However, chaos still continues. Why is the media not taking them to task?
Karma Paljor: We are trying. Sadly the airport authorities do not want us there. We did manage to get all the government policies to go and report from the airport but our correspondent was thrown out. The airport manager said that it was not their policy to allow press to film.
Preetam: All the focus seems on airports in big cities like Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Airports in smaller towns and state capitals are being ignored. Private airlines don't want to fly to places where there is no profit. What are your comments?
Karma Paljor: Yes, it is true that none of the airlines want to fly to airports where there is a low demand. But the government policy does make it mandatory for all airlines to fly to non-profit making routes. But interesting fact is that the growth is being seen in smaller cities airports like Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Cochin, Bagdogra, Amritsar are handling a fair amount of traffic. The governments’ plan to modernise 35 non-metro airports is on track so far.
Faizal MHM: Having signed an agreement with new Airport authorities of Bangalore that the HAL airport will be shut down, how feasible is it for Bangalore to have two different airports?
Karma Paljor: There are different views. Right now there is a huge lobby, which wants the HAL airport to be kept open. The main issue with the new airport is connectivity. People who have filed public interest litigation believe that there is enough traffic to feed two airports. The government has to take a call since they have already signed an agreement with the BIAL to shift all commercial operations to the new airport.
Oliver: Don’t you think that Greenfield Airports are examples of wastage of land, when, what is required is modernisation of existing airports?
Karma Paljor: Modernisation is definitely a better idea. That is why there is a plan to revamp 35 non-metro airports. In areas where there is no space there is need for Greenfield airports. Also wherever the government cannot afford to build a new airport they are trying to entice private corporations to build these airports.
Sanjay Desai: What is the fault of the (baggage) handling companies at Hyderabad that they have been asked to permit airlines to handle themselves? What is the Ministry doing with such strange policies and changes?
Karma Paljor: I think the issue here is the contract between the ground handling company and the airport operator. In the case of Hyderabad it’s GMR. So the ministry has little say, this could be more of a legal problem.
Gaurav Maheshwari: I could never figure out the need to revamp Mumbai airport. We need a bigger airport and the existing airport is just too small to handle the flights and people's influx. Why can’t the government renovate the existing airports than making a new airport?
Karma Paljor: The problem with the Mumbai Airport is space for growth they need a bigger area for an additional runway which will facilitate additional flights. So there is a need for a new airport.
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