The Civil Aviation Ministry is not inclined to keeping two airports open in Bangalore despite the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport against shutting down the existing HAL airport, said a senior ministry official on Thursday. Referring to the recommendations of the Committee to keep the old airport open even after the launch of the new airport on March 30, made in its report submitted to the Government on Thursday, the official said that “the recommendations are not binding in nature”. “No agreement is sacrosanct and beyond re-negotiation. In this case, the Ministry is of the view that the issue is settled,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

The recommendations of the Committee to keep two airports open in Bangalore comes despite an agreement signed between the private promoters of the new international airport and the Government of India stating that no competitive airport will function within a 150 km radius of the new airport.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court has refused to entertain four different PILs asking for the old airport to be kept open to ease pressure regarding both commuting and air traffic. The state Government told the court on Thursday that concerns over infrastructure on the access route to the new airport will be addressed at the time of the opening of the new airport.

Civil Aviation Ministry officials said the Government will discuss the Committee’s recommendations at a meeting on March 10. “Only if there is a sustained public pressure, will there be a move to keep the old airport open,” said the officials, who are in Bangalore for a meeting on Friday to assess whether the new airport will be ready by March 30.

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