Hyderabad, Bangalore old airports to be shut down

NO COMPROMISE: As per contractual obligation the old airports have to be shut, says Patel.

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Hyderabad: There are two airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore waiting to start operations by the end of this month.

While most are looking forward to the new airports, the idea of closing down the older ones hasn't gone down well with many.

"As per contractual obligation the old Bangalore and Hyderabad airport has to be shut. The problem is that of connectivity not so much of the new airport itself. We wish the state government had taken care of the connectivity as we took for building the airport,” says Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has made it clear that the present Hyderabad and Bangalore airports will have to shut down once the new ones at Shamshabad and Devanahalli become operational.

But many are unhappy

“There will be a lot of inconvenience caused if the HAL airport will be shut down. The passengers will face a lot of problems,” says a petitioner, R K Mishra.

Hearing on public interest litigations over the closure of HAL airport is pending in the Karnataka High Court, two PILs have been filed in Hyderabad as well, against the closure of the old airport.

The flyover being built to connect the new airport to the city could take at least another year to finish there.

Now, the Civil Aviation Minister's statement has almost sealed the fate of the two airports, but the final decision on closure of old airports will be taken by the courts.