The new Kempegowda International Airport is already over capacityThe old HAL Airport in Bengaluru could be reopened to help relieve a capacity crunch in the city.
The Economic Times reported an official with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which owns the airport, as saying that it has called on India's Civil Aviation Ministry to relaunch the former airport, and is hopeful of a positive response.
"We appealed to them (the ministry) to... allow regional connectivity from HAL airport," HAL's chairman & managing director, T Suvarna Raju, was quoted saying. "We are confident in the next few months some operations would definitely open up."
HAL Airport served as Bengaluru's main domestic and international hub until 2008, when it was replaced by the new Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). But less than a decade after opening, the new airport is already operating over its annual capacity of 20 million passengers. Traffic at KIA increased 22.5% to 22.2m passengers in 2016, making it the third busiest airport in India.
