Lets bring back the Domestic Airport to HAL. For domestic travel where a air time can be of max 3-4 hrs, the passengers have to travel for 2-3 hrs. This is ridiculous. The Airport is such an important part, it should be accessible at ease.
BIAL should be kept only for International Travel and a high speed train connectivity from Bangalore city should be made available at the earliest.
Bring back domestic Airport to HAL
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Hi...
Hi Shuvan
Welcome aboard!
Let me assure you, this topic has been discussed at lenght! Please use the " Those who read this may have read" corner for more insights. I do not see a conclusive reason to keep HAL airport open after all the debates.
The HSRL too has been discussed. IMO it needs to be further integrated with Bangalore as opposed to simply serving the airport.
Speaking of commuting to the airport: I've done it a few times, and from Koramangala I have never taken more than 1.15 Hours during peak hours. And I have to say, that Bellary road is one of the most obedient stretches in Bangalore. Something we have done has worked. I have noticed that every bus/taxi i take seems to follow the speed limit and not cut lanes and one's will and wish! I am fine with the signals on the road - and I dont feel we need magic boxes everywhere. A 2 min wait at these signals is going to do no harm!
I hope we can apply this to other roads in Bangalore. Its the same users after all.
Narayan Gopalan
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
election issue for Bangalore?
We have had a lot of talk on this here, Narayan already pointed that out. But your timing on reopening this is pretty good. Do you think this could be an election issue for Bangalore Lok Sabha polls!?
If not for LS polls, this could be a big deal in Bangalore Local elections for sure.
Micro Issue
2 Reasons why I dont think it should/will be a promise to woters:
Now, I would prefer it if he/she made a promise like:
"Improve connectivity to railway Station, Airport and Bus Stands" - That would cater to Air travellers, Rail Travelers and Bus Travelers - in short a MUCH larger community/segement of people, And it is a realistic promise!
Narayan Gopalan
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
Twisted awakening?
Narayan,
You are absolutely right. No matter how long and how effectively you discuss this issue of HAL/BIAL, this OPEN-HAL airport would be haunting B'lore and BIAL for long time to come. Irony is we want this to be an election issue.
But at the same time I don't care if I don't have any public transport the worth for my daily hassle free commute. I don't care if for catching bus to Mysore, I may have to travel all the way from R T Nagar to Mysore Circle. I don't care for the BMTC bus to be on time and at regular frequency.This is the tale of twisted awakening.
2-3 hrs is an exaggeration
First off, I think with the economic downturn the whole issue seems to have died down. BIAL cannot operate with just international traffic (about 1.5 million out of the 8.5 million that they hope to do this year). They will have to shut down.
Then the 2-3 hours. Our friends in the media seemed to have played this up quite a bit. From the centre of the city it takes about 45-50 mins. From my place (48km away) it takes 1 hr early morning and 1hr 30 mins other times On the way back it takes 1 hr 15 mins to 1 hr 40 mins depending on my landing time. I have to cross the entire city. And it was not as if HAL Airport presented me with a Star Trek - Beam me Aboard Scotty - type of scenario. Late evening it used to take me 1 hr 30 mins to get home (it used to take 40 mins just to reach Manipal Hospital sometimes).
Coming to Narayan's points. I agree. The traffic seems to have become more disciplined. Even at 10:00 p.m. cars stop at the red light (surprisingly they break the lights inside the city more often). Vehicles tend to drive in lanes - except at lights when they find every gap to go an wait. Honking has reduced when the lights turn green!!! Most of the stretch has lights. When we met Mr.Sood he said that he would put pelican lights and No Parking signs along the way. That has been done. Need more speed checks early morning though.
The BMTC VV service is doing well. I heard that some IT companies have mandated that employeed use it and enforced it by cutting conveyance limits on expense reports. Is that true?
If the HSRL does materialize then the impact is even more. It will be as if the airport terminal has been shifted to MG Road.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Why two airports?
First question is why 2 airports? It makes flight operations difficult.
Second question is what is the population and percentage of Bangalore who has ever travelled in flights? What is the percentage of population of frequent travellers (once in 15 days atleast).
Third question is travel time comparison for the whole Bangalore. For example a Yelahankite was travelling lot of distance to reach HAL airport, now it is the turn of Indiranagarite or HAL 2nd stage people. For South and West Bangalorites, this is not making any difference. I live in Kattriguppe and my commute time is same to both Airports. Now I have the option of Vayu Vajra which was not present for HAL Airport.
Another fact is because of the distance, people do not come to pickup travellers like they used to do in HAL which has reduced the traffic to a lot extent in BIAL. Those who land in BIAL take Vayu Vajra or Taxi.
I fly once in a year or twice maximum. I am more bothered about daily commute to office and within the city and hence scratching head on Metro / Mono / Buses and proper road infrastructure is my worry.
Chennai - No Better
To get to the airport in chennai (I am presently in chennai) during peak hours from paris corner takes the same time or longer than at bangalore. So, BIAL is actually better than Chennai airport or the old HAL airport with regards to access. BMTC has done a great job with the Volvo Vajras - an excellent service that has stifled all the din about "connectivity".
My trip today to BIAL
Shuvan,
Writing this from the airport where I am waiting for my 8:55 flight to Bombay.
Left home at 6:45 for my 48 km ride which takes me right across the city ( I think my commute is one of the longer ones). I was in the airport by 7:45. Finished check in and security by 7:55. Left me with an hour to wait at the gate. I remember I used to spend 15 mins outside HAL Airport figuring out which security line to join for scanning my bags and in the mile long queues for security check. Thanks but no thanks.
Most business travellers take an early morning flight out of Bangalore. At this time, there is hardly any traffic inside the city to slow you down. Once you reach Hebbal, it is 30 mins to the airport.
What has been your experience with BIAL so far?
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
BIAL is far better
Given my nature as a technical opposer of BIAL (atleast w.r.t it's Concession Agreement), i would still declare that BIAL is far far better than HAL.
HAL was using the Airport as a milch cow. The milk that the airpot yielded made up for the other defeciencies plaguing HAL. No wonder HAL was not very eager to let go of this cow.
Even Nirmala public toilets were far far cleaner than the ones in HAL. I have not seen more dirtier and stinking airports in HAL. Good riddance to bad rubbish!
My other criticism of BIAL is that it has not made more adequate use of the land offered to it. It should play an ideal role of stake holder in connectivity and enhance connectivity to other areas like Whitefield and speed up implementation of the Thanisandra Corridor.
BIAL is very good
I would second the comment that BIAL is far better than the old HAL airport. The old airport was ridiculous - sometimes one had to wait outside for 45 minutes at 3 am to take an international flight. And all the initial fears about the time it would take to get to the city have been resolved. In fact, I think overall traffic in the city has improved as the airport traffic isnt going through it.
The only complaint I have about BIAL is the awful food in the waiting area. Sometimes, if there is a fog delay or some such thing, it becomes necessary to consume the food there and its really, really awful and really expensive. I dont understand why the airport concessions should try and fleece people, just because they can. Its absurd to pay Rs. 90 for a cup of ditchwater coffee or Rs 120 for a stale sandwich. I suppose I woulndt grudge them the money if they provided a quality product, but that is not the case. And this is in the domestic lounge - I cannot imagine what it is like in the international lounge.
In Mumbai airport, for example, there are options such as a Rs 5 Nescafe or a Rs 20 samosa but no such thing exists in BIAL. And if I remember correctly, it did not exist in the old HAL airport either.
I suppose one other problem is that if a lot of flights are delayed there is a space crunch in the waiting lounge - though then again its not the zoo that it was in the old airport.
Ramesh
re: why two airports
//First question is why 2 airports? It makes flight operations difficult.
My answer - the 2 airport topic is one of the most debated topics :-), it is definitely not about flight operations becoming difficult though. It is moreso a case of does the passenger&aircraft movements warrant 2 airports. India has a classic case of under utilization and mismanagement of finance, infrastructure and .. you name it it can be added to this list... .Once HAL opens up I quarantee you that the 2nd runway at BIAL (whic is still quite a few years away) will definitely not materialize. We definitely wouldn't want to land up with 2 inefficiently run underutilized airports. With clever utilization and efficient ATC we can easily achieve at least 60 peak hour movements for a dual runway (parallel with good separation for simultaneous operations) airport.
I agree completely with you on your concern about the commute within the city.
thanks
blrpaj a.k.a bialterminal