Mangalore: State Government Recommends Intl Status for Bajpe Airport

Mangalore: State Government Recommends Intl Status for Bajpe Airport
The Hindu
MANGALORE, Dec 3 2009 : Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao said here on Monday that the State Government will take steps to send a proposal to the Union Government recommending international airport status to Mangalore airport. Mangalore airport is a domestic customs airport.
He was replying to queries from presspersons at Kenjar where the Airports Authority of India is building an integrated terminal building for Mangalore airport. Earlier, Rao inspected ongoing work at the terminal building.
Rao said that he was not aware of the fact that the State Government was yet to send the proposal to the Union Government. “I will take it up with the Civil Aviation Secretary after completing the formalities,” he said.
About the slow pace of work to lay a road to the new terminal building by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, he said: “We will take care of it.”
Rao said that the airport officials too had brought this to his notice. They told him that the new terminal building was expected to be ready by February next. If the connecting road was not ready by then, it will create problem.
The Chief Secretary said that he was aware of the importance of road connectivity to the new terminal building as a similar situation existed in Bangalore before the international airport at Devanahalli was inaugurated.
M.R. Vasudeva, director of the airport, briefed him about the ongoing work. The director said that about 70 per cent of the work had been completed.
Meantime, Daijiworld has learnt from reliable sources, that the transfer of the airport director Vasudeva Rao has been temporarily put on hold. Rao is expected to continue as the director without promotion, till the new airport terminal becomes operational.
It may be recalled, that Vasudeva Rao was promoted as the general manager and posted to Coimbatore International Airport sometime back.