New airport of my home town
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MIG_ACE
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shrivatsa, acc. to today's newspaper BIAL made a royal mess of everything on the first day of functioning though when there was a glitch in the ATC system and caused long delays. The usual blame game followed ofcourse with the airlines blaming the airport and the airport blaming the Airports authority of India.
shrivatsa
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which paper???????????there was a delay during mid night switch over thats it other then that nothing as far as i know.
The Hindu Business Line : Smooth take-off for Bangalores new airport
The Hindu Business Line : Smooth take-off for Bangalores new airport
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A day after, all quiet at HAL airport
25 May 2008, 0249 hrs IST,Prashanth G N,TNN
A day after, all quiet at HAL airport-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of India
BANGALORE: It was all quiet on the HAL airport front.
A day after the first commercial aircraft landed at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) in Devanahalli, people were seen packing stuff belonging to several airlines, which used to arrive and depart from here. In short, a final wrapping-up work was going on.
The airport staff as well as employees of airlines were carrying files, computers, chairs, documents and a whole lot of other equipment on trolleys. They moved to and fro carrying their cargo from inside the airport to waiting trucks outside to be transported to their new workplaces.
The airport offices looked bare with even telephone and cable wire being removed. The premises look as if it had been cleared in a hurry.
But three ticket counters — Kingfisher, Deccan and Spicejet — were open. The staff said they did not down their windows to make it easy for passengers to book tickets at least for a few more days.
The entire front area spanning the length of the arrival and departure terminal and the road adjacent to the taxi stand were vacant, except for some taxis.
The only people seen were some airport and airlines staff clearing their office equipment — and some curious onlookers who came to see the process of an airport being shut.
The parking lots at the domestic and international terminals did have a few autos and taxis, but certainly not the large numbers usually seen. The cargo office was the only busy place with the staff loading material to be sent to Devanahalli.
On a nostalgic trip
Some auto and taxi drivers who hung around the airport did so for "sentimental reasons". They walked around the stands and ticket counters coming to terms with not doing business there anymore.
"This place has given us livelihood for so many years. We're just standing and wondering that today perhaps would be the last day we'll be here. It was always a habit to come into the airport stand. Now it won't be," a driver said.
Another auto driver spoke of BIA as being "unfair" in not making space for autos and city taxis. "All together we are 3,000 drivers — autos, city taxis and yellow board taxis. We would also like a separate space and counter at BIA. Not only will it give us a living, it will help passengers who would like to come to the city at lower rates," he said.
"I am very sure there'll be passengers for autos and city taxis. BIA can take some commission from us. It will benefit all three parties — ourselves, passengers and the airport. We don't want to block revenue to the airport," said a taxi driver, who came to see the airport for the last time.
"If passengers prefer to take luxury vehicles, they are free to do so. The same way let them be free to take economical modes of transport. Let us offer a choice of all modes of transport to passengers," the drivers argued though with not much hope given the present regulations.
Confusion persists
There was some confusion early morning as many passengers arrived at HAL airport assuming flights would take off from there. There were passengers coming in between 9 and 12 noon. Many of them didn't seem to be clear that flights were now operating from BIA. "Even hotels didn't inform customers that flights were taking off from BIA. Some taxi and auto drivers were also confused. With so much being said about the new airport, we don't know how passengers could end up at the wrong airport," a passenger said.
25 May 2008, 0249 hrs IST,Prashanth G N,TNN
A day after, all quiet at HAL airport-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of India
BANGALORE: It was all quiet on the HAL airport front.
A day after the first commercial aircraft landed at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) in Devanahalli, people were seen packing stuff belonging to several airlines, which used to arrive and depart from here. In short, a final wrapping-up work was going on.
The airport staff as well as employees of airlines were carrying files, computers, chairs, documents and a whole lot of other equipment on trolleys. They moved to and fro carrying their cargo from inside the airport to waiting trucks outside to be transported to their new workplaces.
The airport offices looked bare with even telephone and cable wire being removed. The premises look as if it had been cleared in a hurry.
But three ticket counters — Kingfisher, Deccan and Spicejet — were open. The staff said they did not down their windows to make it easy for passengers to book tickets at least for a few more days.
The entire front area spanning the length of the arrival and departure terminal and the road adjacent to the taxi stand were vacant, except for some taxis.
The only people seen were some airport and airlines staff clearing their office equipment — and some curious onlookers who came to see the process of an airport being shut.
The parking lots at the domestic and international terminals did have a few autos and taxis, but certainly not the large numbers usually seen. The cargo office was the only busy place with the staff loading material to be sent to Devanahalli.
On a nostalgic trip
Some auto and taxi drivers who hung around the airport did so for "sentimental reasons". They walked around the stands and ticket counters coming to terms with not doing business there anymore.
"This place has given us livelihood for so many years. We're just standing and wondering that today perhaps would be the last day we'll be here. It was always a habit to come into the airport stand. Now it won't be," a driver said.
Another auto driver spoke of BIA as being "unfair" in not making space for autos and city taxis. "All together we are 3,000 drivers — autos, city taxis and yellow board taxis. We would also like a separate space and counter at BIA. Not only will it give us a living, it will help passengers who would like to come to the city at lower rates," he said.
"I am very sure there'll be passengers for autos and city taxis. BIA can take some commission from us. It will benefit all three parties — ourselves, passengers and the airport. We don't want to block revenue to the airport," said a taxi driver, who came to see the airport for the last time.
"If passengers prefer to take luxury vehicles, they are free to do so. The same way let them be free to take economical modes of transport. Let us offer a choice of all modes of transport to passengers," the drivers argued though with not much hope given the present regulations.
Confusion persists
There was some confusion early morning as many passengers arrived at HAL airport assuming flights would take off from there. There were passengers coming in between 9 and 12 noon. Many of them didn't seem to be clear that flights were now operating from BIA. "Even hotels didn't inform customers that flights were taking off from BIA. Some taxi and auto drivers were also confused. With so much being said about the new airport, we don't know how passengers could end up at the wrong airport," a passenger said.
MIG_ACE
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which paper???????????there was a delay during mid night switch over thats it other then that nothing as far as i know.
The Hindu Business Line : Smooth take-off for Bangalore’s new airport
I get two papers - TOI and Hindustan times. I think I read it in the TOI. Will confirm later though.
EDIT: Ok. Check this out
Teething troubles dog Bengaluru airport-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of India
BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: It was a nightmare in daylight. Passengers, senior airline officials and their staff had a harrowing experience on Day 1 of operations at the new Bengaluru International Airport (BIA).
Passengers catching morning flights were stranded for close to 90 minutes as the Air Traffic Control (ATC) malfunctioned. The crucial flight plan link terminals, which communicate the departing aircraft's flight path to airports, collapsed, stranding 10 aircraft all ready to take off.
"Our pilot informed us of a one-hour delay as BIA's ATC was not functioning," said a Hyderabad-bound passenger. After about 60 minutes, the ATC was rebooted and started functioning. In a e-mail clarification to STOI, BIAL said: "...this is not true."
When senior airline officials contacted BIAL authorities, all they said was: "Flight delays are the fault of the ATC, which is handled by the Airports Authority of India (AAI)." Interestingly, AAI holds a 13% stake in the public entity, Bangalore International Airport, registered under the Indian Companies Act.
The confusion continued well into the afternoon. On the ground, there was complete chaos as the airport was short-staffed. "There was no power, no baggage loaders, no aerodrome personnel, absolutely no manpower. There was just nothing at the airport," said an airline official. "To keep the situation under control, we had to bring in our own support staff," he added.
Things got worse later. Passengers had to queue up for over an hour at the baggage claim. Some passengers suffered a four-hour delay in getting their baggage. Airline cabin crew and pilots were stranded at the terminal building as the aerobridges could not be opened. "We've been telling BIA authorities to move operations from the old airport in a phased manner so that no inconvenience is caused," said an airline official.
In the evening, all flight information screens were still showing delayed arrivals and depature of aircraft.
Earlier, BIAL submitted a report to the DGCA in which it highlighted the shortage of security and immigration personnel. On Friday night, when the airport opened, the international security area had queues where people took up to 15 minutes to complete the formalities as two of the five security lines were unmanned. Nine of the 18 immigration booths at arrival and departure were unmanned.
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CHENNAI: Flying is no longer the fastest way to get to Bangalore since the opening of the new airport.
With flights being delayed at Chennai airport and poor road connectivity from the new Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) to the city centre, many travellers are finding that taking the train to Silicon Valley is faster. The new airport at Devanahalli in Bangalore is about 35 km from the centre of the city.
A railway official said the increased bookings on Shatabdi Express from Chennai Central show more people now prefer taking a train, though it takes nearly five hours to cover the 300-km distance by rail. There is tremendous demand for seats on virtually all Bangalore-bound trains and even tatkal quotas are sold out within hours (see page 7).
On the other hand, airline tickets are freely available on this sector even at an hour’s notice. There are flights virtually every hour and they currently see an average 50-60% occupancy.
Apart from the difference in fares, one of the reasons for flights taking off half-empty is that the time saved by flying is now virtually off-set by the time spent waiting or on travelling to and fro from airports at both ends. "Flights out of Chennai airport are often delayed. This is a further waste of time," said M Vignesh, an IT consultant who travels to Bangalore often.
"If you include the reporting time at the airport, a passenger spends two hours to fly to Bangalore. Even if the flight reaches on time, the passenger has to drive for two hours to reach the city centre. Many travellers have to spend more than four-and-half hours to reach Bangalore from Chennai, nearly the same time they spend on a train," said D Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India (APAI).
Source: TOI
With flights being delayed at Chennai airport and poor road connectivity from the new Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) to the city centre, many travellers are finding that taking the train to Silicon Valley is faster. The new airport at Devanahalli in Bangalore is about 35 km from the centre of the city.
A railway official said the increased bookings on Shatabdi Express from Chennai Central show more people now prefer taking a train, though it takes nearly five hours to cover the 300-km distance by rail. There is tremendous demand for seats on virtually all Bangalore-bound trains and even tatkal quotas are sold out within hours (see page 7).
On the other hand, airline tickets are freely available on this sector even at an hour’s notice. There are flights virtually every hour and they currently see an average 50-60% occupancy.
Apart from the difference in fares, one of the reasons for flights taking off half-empty is that the time saved by flying is now virtually off-set by the time spent waiting or on travelling to and fro from airports at both ends. "Flights out of Chennai airport are often delayed. This is a further waste of time," said M Vignesh, an IT consultant who travels to Bangalore often.
"If you include the reporting time at the airport, a passenger spends two hours to fly to Bangalore. Even if the flight reaches on time, the passenger has to drive for two hours to reach the city centre. Many travellers have to spend more than four-and-half hours to reach Bangalore from Chennai, nearly the same time they spend on a train," said D Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India (APAI).
Source: TOI
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