The civil aviation ministry on Wednesday declared that the new Bangalore greenfield airport would become operational from 12.01 am on May 24 instead of 12.01 am on May 23, a delay of 24 hours.
"There will be a delay of 24 hours since a need was felt for more security forces to be present at Bangalore when the new airport opens. Security forces are currently deployed in North Karnataka for election security," the civil aviation ministry sources told this newspaper.
"We have already informed the Bengaluru International Airports Ltd. (BIAL), the developers and operators of the new airport, of this latest development," ministry sources added.
However, BIAL indicated its displeasure publicly. In a statement released on behalf of the company, a functionary quoted BIAL CEO, Mr Albert Brunner, as saying: "We (BIAL) are taken by surprise. In fact, we have just closed a press conference communicating our preparedness for tomorrow. However, there is nothing we can do at this point. All our efforts are now towards minimising passenger and airline inconvenience owing to this postponement."
The civil aviation ministry sources said the need was felt for adequate security forces in Bangalore after there were conflicts on whom the airport should be named after, as well as opposition from certain quarters on the decision to close the old airport for commercial operations once the new one becomes operational.
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