Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil expects the new airport to be ready by 2035.
| Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K
The Karnataka government will need to acquire 3,000 to 5,000 acres of land for setting up a new international airport as big as Kempegowda International Airport in north Bengaluru with a capacity to handle 100 million passengers per annum, according to Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil.
Responding to media queries at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on July 10, he said that the new airport would be ready by 2035, in keeping with the exclusivity clause availed by Bangalore International Airport Limited — that no international airport should be allowed within 150 km radius until 2035). KIA’s passenger handling capacity is expected to be saturated by 2035 while its cargo handling capacity is expected to reach saturation point by 2040.
The government is considering at six locations in the range of 60 kilometres away from the existing airport in Devanahalli. A special committee, comprising aviation industry experts, would soon meet to consider suitable sites keeping in mind good road, rail and metro connectivity, fewer people settlements, minimum water bodies, not much green cover, non-agriculture land without elevation or mountains.
‘’Things will move in a few months. A plan will be ready in the next three months,’‘ the Minister said.
When asked about Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announcing plans to set up an airport in Hosur, which adjoins Bengaluru., the Minister said, ‘‘I don’t know if it was just a natural thought to have another airport, but Tamil Nadu’s statement came after Karnataka spoke about a second international international airport for Bengaluru.”
