The years-long demand for a second international airport for Bengaluru has now reached a decisive stage. Just days after the Tamil Nadu government declared its intent to build a 2,000-acre airport in Hosur, Karnataka has unveiled plans to build a much bigger aerodrome and identified six locations for the mega project. The race has finally picked some pace.
Despite a two-year pandemic-induced slump in air traffic growth, the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) had addressed the city’s mounting demand for more flights and capacity. But the addition of a second runway, a second terminal and upgrade of its T1 would only delay the inevitable: The dire need for a second airport.
It is estimated that KIA, currently the country’s third busiest, will overshoot its structural capacity of 92 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) by 2032-33. This is less than 10 years from now, and if preparatory work for a new airport does not start right now it might be too late. Year 2033 is also when the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL)’s exclusivity clause ends. This clause mandates that no airport can be built within a radius of 150km around KIA.
The State’s plan, as articulated recently by Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil is this: Build a greenfield, international airport on a 5,000-acre land somewhere within a 60 km distance from Bengaluru city. The six locations identified for this project are along Tumakuru Road, Mysuru Road, Kunigal Road, Kanakapura Road, Doddaballapur and Dobbspet.
A second airport inside the triangular zone within, Ramanagar, Bidadi and Channapatna along the Mysuru Road corridor could be ideal, as per an earlier BCIC proposal. | Photo Credit: Rasheed Kappan
Ideal location?
So, which is the most ideal location for a new airport? Mysuru Road, going by a proposal by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) in 2020. The Chamber’s choice was driven by the huge anticipated growth in cargo originating from the industrial corridor in the region. This Southern catchment includes Ramanagara, Bidadi and Channapatna.
Quick access through the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway and a well-established existing railway system along the route were cited as transit bonuses for the proposed airport. The new project, BCIC had proposed, could come up somewhere in the triangle between Bengaluru, Channapatna and Hassan. This meant catering to both rising passenger traffic and industrial /agricultural cargo.
View of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
KIA’s cargo volumes
Today, KIA has emerged as the country’s top airport for perishable exports. In 2023-24, the airport processed 44% of South India’s total perishable cargo and 28% of the national share. The airport recorded a total perishable cargo tonnage of 63,188 metric tons in 2023-24, an 18% growth over the previous financial year, according to BIAL. This rapid pace could quickly saturate the airport’s capacity. A new airport close to the agricultural / industrial hinterland could be the right solution.
Former BCIC president Devesh Agarwal notes that KIA is twice ahead of the next airport in India in terms of perishable exports. Perishable cargo, he points out, is always sent by air. In this context, an airport within the Hassan-Bengaluru-Mysuru triangle makes sense since Hassan is a food processing district. It will also cater to the food processing happening in the Wayanad region in Kerala, towards the Southwest of Mysuru.
Steering group
Although there is a pronounced need for a second airport, the entire project should be preceded by a process. A first step, as planning and mobility analyst Ashwin Mahesh puts it, should be to set up a Second Airport Steering Group involving all the right stakeholders. This should be followed by a public consultation exercise to elicit informed citizen inputs.
Besides, the new airport should be envisioned as a regional project facilitating mobility to and from the entire metropolitan region. The mistake of operationalizing an airport in distant Devanahalli without first ensuring accessibility should not be repeated. “It cannot be seen as a means of air travel alone. The airport, for instance, will be a magnet attracting housing and other infrastructure. Therefore you will have to think ahead about where to locate those facilities in the future,” Ashwin elaborates.
Mobility and housing centred around the new airport would mean integrating these into a proper, well thought-out Master Plan. This implies not repeating the urban planning mess that Bengaluru is currently in.
Multi-state strategy
While the demand should assure the economic viability of a new airport, it may face challenges from neighbouring States. Tamilnadu’s Hosur airport proposal is just one of them. Ashwin reminds that Andhra Pradesh too might come up with an airport of its own near its Southwestern boundary with Karnataka.
The solution: “You cannot independently imagine the airport. It is better to get into some kind of conversation with the neighbouring States and evolve a combined strategy. It will be a useful example of States cooperating among themselves,” he suggests.
Constrained by BIAL’s contractual 150km radius no-airport mandate, Tamilnadu had so far refrained from making any move on the Hosur project. But a big airport was always on the cards since Hosur has over the years emerged as a mega industrial hub with the likes of TVS, Ashok Leyland, Titan, Ola, Ather and Tata Electronics setting up their manufacturing bases in the region.
Mutually beneficial?
It is estimated that about 3,500 MSMEs have made the Hosur-Krishnagiri region their base, packing the zone with industrial units engaged in engineering fabrication, tooling, polishing and more. These are all allied to the established presence of the bigwigs in automobiles, electric vehicle manufacturing, logistics and electronics. An airport here will cater to both cargo and traditional sectors such as floriculture and horticulture nurtured in abundance in the region.
An airport so close to the Karnataka border is bound to give the IT hub of Electronics City an option beyond distant KIA. Moves are also afoot to extend the Namma Metro to Hosur, ensuring two-way connectivity for passengers from both the States. An early deal between the Karnataka and Tamilnadu governments could strategically balance the economic viabilities of multiple airports in the region, say aviation experts.
Independent aviation analyst Sanjeev Dyamannavar, while acknowledging the need for a second airport, agrees that the Hosur airport will address the needs of Electronics City and surrounding areas within the Karnataka border. “The city is growing, and automatically there will be demand. We need to look at the convenience of people too,” he notes.
