Karnataka: Would a third airport along Mysuru Road corridor add value?

A contract bars the HAL Airport from operating for commercial purposes until the year 2033 as it falls within a 150 km radius of the Kempegowda International Airport. This has resulted in a proposal by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) for an alternative aerodrome along the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway in order to manage the anticipated increase in cargo. “We had proposed the new airport somewhere in the triangle between Bengaluru, Channapatna, and Hassan. The Mysuru Road corridor was suggested for multiple reasons. One is the expressway that now assures good, quick transit. You also have a railway system to leverage. That takes care of surface connectivity to the airport,” former President of BCIC, Devesh Aggarwal said in an interaction with The Hindu. 

This proposal comes in light of Mysuru’s growing status as a potential IT hub. “Mysuru is becoming a hub for these. Hassan is one for food-processing and floriculture. The industry is spread all around Bengaluru. The government says to decongest Bengaluru, how are you going to do it? By building infrastructure that will support the IT industries or manufacturing industry to move to Hassan, Mysuru. They cannot move until you give them proper connectivity,” Devesh added. 

Meanwhile, the reopening of the HAL airport for domestic flights might have a positive impact on the traffic problems around the Hebbal flyover and efficient use of resources along certain routes. “Today, if a flight from Chennai files a flight plan to KIA showing HAL airport as the next alternative, they will reject that flight plan. Why is the Airports Authority of India (AAI) unwilling to allow HAL airport as a secondary airport or a diversion airport for KIA. Today, flights from Chennai or Coimbatore have to carry twice the fuel because the alternative to KIA is Chennai,” Devesh highlighted.