DHNS

Bangalore, Feb 22: The BengaluruInternational Airport atDevanahalli is all set to take off, well almost. With 95 per cent of the work complete, the airport promoters, BIAL had some good news for passengers: The User Development Fee (UDF) will be halved for the first two months after commercial flight operations commence on March 30.

To ease transition from the present HAL Airport to the new airport in Devanahalli, BIAL will charge a reduced UDF till May 31, 2008. The revised UDF will be Rs 240 plus taxes for domestic passengers and Rs 520 plus taxes for international passengers, BIAL CEO Albert Brunner told reporters on Thursday during an on-site media visit to the airport.

“BIAL will charge UDF to provide and maintain higher infrastructure quality and safety. After May 31, the fee will be as per the concession agreement ie Rs 675 plus taxes per departing domestic passenger and Rs 955 plus taxes per departing international passenger,” he said.

The swank airport will have 54 counters on the ground and first floor for checking in, booking baggage and collecting boarding passes within 15-30 minutes before take-off.

With separate entrances and exits for arrival and departures, the new airport is geared to operate 30 flights per hour during peak hours, which are normally in the morning for domestic services and after midnight for international services.

Brunner said the airport will be inaugurated by PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh on March 28.

The integrated trial phase also commenced on Thursday and this stage signals the final trial phase of the airport and involves integrating various processes to simulate real life airport operations. Integrated trial phase will continue till next month. With most of the construction activity completed and the trial phase being carried out, the airport will soon witness flight trials.
 
BIAL COO Marcel Hungerbuehler said a calibration flight owned by L & T would land on the tarmac of the airport after February 26 which will be followed by public trials in the first week of March when commercial airlines will land at the airport.Hungerbuehler said passengers will be given a feel of the airport and airlines like Kingfisher, Deccan, Jet and Indian have evinced interest in taking part in the dry runs.

Brunner said an independent regulatory authority will review the UDF every five years. It could be both ways, high or low.However, for the first five years the airport will levy the same UDF.

Though the terminal and other facilities for operations are almost ready, road connectivity from the city, especially the access road to the airport, continues to haunt promoters.