<p>The state cabinet on Thursday decided to extend the concession agreement with Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) for 30 more years by adding a clause that will allow the company to operate the HAL airport as well.</p>.<p>This has, once again, revived the hopes of the HAL airport being thrown open to civilian use in Bengaluru.</p>.<p>The HAL airport was shut down in 2008 because the concession agreement between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the BIAL stipulated that no rival commercial airport would function within a 150-km radius of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) for a 25-year period, until May 2033.</p>.<p>"We have now given the option for the BIAL to run the HAL airport. This means the BIAL will exempt itself from that 150-km clause," Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan told DH. Narayan is in favour of opening the HAL airport to domestic travel.</p>.<p>At present, the HAL airport operates military aircraft and chartered or VIP flights.</p>.<p>The concession agreement grants the exclusive right and privilege to BIAL to carry out the development, design, financing, construction, operation and management of the Kempegowda International Airport for a period of thirty years from the airport opening date, with an option to extend the concession for another 30 years.</p>.<p>“We exercised the option to extend the concession for another 30 years keeping the long-term in mind,” Narayan said. “There are so many projects that are in the pipeline and we wanted to add a layer of certainty by extending the agreement,” he said.</p>
<p>The state cabinet on Thursday decided to extend the concession agreement with Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) for 30 more years by adding a clause that will allow the company to operate the HAL airport as well.</p>.<p>This has, once again, revived the hopes of the HAL airport being thrown open to civilian use in Bengaluru.</p>.<p>The HAL airport was shut down in 2008 because the concession agreement between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the BIAL stipulated that no rival commercial airport would function within a 150-km radius of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) for a 25-year period, until May 2033.</p>.<p>"We have now given the option for the BIAL to run the HAL airport. This means the BIAL will exempt itself from that 150-km clause," Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan told DH. Narayan is in favour of opening the HAL airport to domestic travel.</p>.<p>At present, the HAL airport operates military aircraft and chartered or VIP flights.</p>.<p>The concession agreement grants the exclusive right and privilege to BIAL to carry out the development, design, financing, construction, operation and management of the Kempegowda International Airport for a period of thirty years from the airport opening date, with an option to extend the concession for another 30 years.</p>.<p>“We exercised the option to extend the concession for another 30 years keeping the long-term in mind,” Narayan said. “There are so many projects that are in the pipeline and we wanted to add a layer of certainty by extending the agreement,” he said.</p>