3 in 3 yrs: Another tender for airport hangars,VIP lounge

According to sources,when the airport was expanded in 2008,the hangar was demolished with a promise that six new hangars would be constructed within six to eight months. The hangars will give shelter to private aircraft,which are parked on open tarmac,thereby creating extra space for airlines to park their aircraft. The project has to be completed in 13 months from the date of awarding the contract.

“We follow a two-bid system. If everything goes well,work should start by January and complete within a year from then,” said airport director PSRK Sudhakar. The closing date of the tender is November 21.

The airport has nine bays for airline operators. The 10 private aircraft parked on the airport pay Rs 360 per sq metre/month rent.

The delay in construction of hangars is affecting the passengers. “Hangars are needed as they provide space to private jets and make available at least one bay for a private airline to operate. Currently,only six aircraft,which are early morning flights,can be parked overnight. Additional bay will facilitate one more aircraft to fly early morning,” said Civil Aviation Committee,MCCIA,chairman S K Jain,who have been pressing for the issue over years.

In 2008,within three months of winning the contract,the contractor went to the court,claiming that he was not properly paid for the work. In October 2009,the court ruled in favour of the AAI. Instead of floating the tender immediately,the AAI floated another tender in October 2010. But the contractor refused to work. A source said,“The first tender was for construction of hangars only. From the second tender,the AAI has been clubbing the work of construction of a VIP lounge with hangars and a canopy at the entrance. Ideally,these are two separate works which need different tenders. The contractors are surprised to see additional work that is not mentioned in the contract.” The airport director said,“Last year,the tender was scrapped because the bid was on a higher side.”

Sudhakar told Newsline that a canopy worth Rs 4 crore would be considered a part of the same contract. The mention of a canopy is not found in the tender and when asked,he said,“It should have been there.”

“Lack of hangar increases our maintenance overheads by 25 per cent,” said a private aircraft owner.