No respite from fog yet for Bangalore airport

The Bangalore International Airport (BIA) will continue to be affected by fog thanks to the expansion of terminal one and the proposed second terminal.

Taking care of the fog will require a huge investment as the runway has to be upgraded to Cat-3, which will happen only when the second terminal and runway are ready, BIAL president Marcel Hungerbuehler told DNA. The expansion of terminal one is likely to be completed in 18 months and the construction of the second will take 3-4 years.

Hungerbuehler said that delays were also caused due to technical errors and pilots inadequacy.
BIAL managing director GV Sanjay Reddy said that the fog scenario will be kept in mind while constructing the second runway.

“The airport was built keeping in mind only nine fog days, but in reality there are 29 fog days,” said Devesh R Agarwal, infrastructure expert, Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Delays are mostly experienced between 6-9am when the traffic movement is at its peak. “This should be answered at the earliest.”