Long Drive For Hosur Residents May Continue With Bengaluru Airport Refusing NOC For UDAN Operations

Residents of Hosur in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu might have to wait even longer to catch a flight from their town. Located barely 60 km as the crow flies from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) that serves Bengaluru in neighbouring Karnataka, Hosur aerodrome was selected as one of the airports under the Centre’s ambitions Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), also known as UDAN.

The Taneja Aerodrome, as it is locally known lies within 150 km of KIA, thus mandating the requirement of a no objection certificate (NOC) from its operator Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) as per an agreement with the Centre and Karnataka. However, BIAL has refused to issue the NOC, reports Bangalore Mirror.

Other airports in Tamil Nadu including Salem, and Tuticorin have started commercial flights to Bengaluru under UDAN while flights between Mysuru and Chennai have also commenced. However, operations on the Hosur-Chennai route are yet to commence.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi Palaniswamy has written to Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu demanding the immediate commencement of operations from the Hosur aerodrome. The airport is located 28 km south of Bengaluru’s information technology (IT) hub Electronics City as opposed to KIA that lies nearly 54 km away.

BIAL’s agreement with Centre and Karnataka prohibits commercial operations from airports within a 150 km radius of the airport for 25 years (till May 2033). The only exceptions are for airports in Mysore and Hassan, both of which are outside the 150 km zone.

Also Read: Hosur Airport May Not Be Able To Solve South Bengaluru’s Woes