Bajpe airport ranks among the best in the country

Raviprasad Kamila The Hindu

It secured 86 per cent marks for customer satisfaction among the 25 airports surveyed in March this year
Established in 1951, it has grown tremendously in the last 10 years: official
Mangalore airport was credited with ISO 14,001 certification in 2006

MANGALORE: Once neglected as a “table-top airport”, the Mangalore airport is now counted among the most sought after airports in the country for the infrastructure it has developed. It has certainly given Mangalore a pride of place.
The airport at Bajpe securing 86 per cent “customer satisfaction” score in a recent national survey that covered 25 domestic airports is probably indicative of its growth. The survey undertaken by Spectrum Planning (India) Ltd for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in February-March this year revealed that only Jammu airport could match Bajpe airport on customers’ satisfaction.
From handling 56 flights a week in 2005, the airport has come a long way. It now handles 280 flights a week – a five fold increase in a short span.Over 50-years old
Although the Mangalore airport was opened in December, 1951 it had remained dormant for several years. It came to limelight about three years ago, after the construction of a new concrete runway was taken up. Other infrastructure and commercial facilities were added subsequently. The airport witnessed a rapid growth after M.R. Vasudeva took over its reins as the director in 2004, according to Rajesh Sequeira, co-ordinator, Karnataka NRI Forum, U.A.E. “The NRIs in West Asia, particularly Dubai, will never forget October 3, 2006, when a passenger flight from Dubai landed at Mangalore airport for the first time,” he said. “The main beneficiaries of the airport are the NRIs of Mangalore and North Kerala origin residing in different countries of West Asia,” he said. According to him, the NRIs now need not fly to West Asian countries via Mumbai. “We can save money and time,” he said and added, “without sacrificing comfort and convenience”. On his part, Mr. Vasudeva attributes the growth of the airport to financial and administrative support given by K. Ramalingam, Chairman, AAI. Evolution
The director said that the AAI deposited Rs. 50 lakh with the State Government in March, 1989 for handing over 186 acre for the construction of new concrete runway and terminal building. The State handed over the land for the runway in September, 2003 after a gap of 14 years. The construction of 2.4-km-long new concrete runway began in April, 2004 and completed in March, 2006. This is in addition to the old 1.6-km-long tar runway. Mr. Vasudeva said that although the State Government handed over the land records, not all the 208 project-affected families had vacated their lands. The airport authorities had to convince people to vacate their land. In addition, the AAI had to face opposition from the Vimana Nildana Vistarana Virodhi Samiti, a forum of people, who opposed the expansion of the airport. “The real challenge was in shifting a church, a mosque and a “daivasthana”, a place of spirit-worship, from Adyapady village for constructing the new runway,” he recalled.
Construction of the new air-conditioned arrival hall to accommodate 250 passengers at a time, expansion of departure hall to accommodate even number of passengers, setting up of visitors’ gallery and anti-hijacking room, strengthening the apron, the parking stand for aircraft, to enable parking of four aircraft at a time, constructing a parallel taxi-way connecting two runways, opening a restaurant, providing two security hold areas to make passengers rest after checking in, are some of the other projects completed after 2005. In addition, the area control centre of the airport extended its air traffic services to over flying aircrafts from 13 hours to 24 hours. This helped pilots flying approximately 200 nautical miles of airspace from the centre of Mangalore Area Control Centre to get clear instructions for safe navigation to avoid collision. The airspace comprised parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra.
The AAI changed its Instrument Landing System (ILS) from offset ILS to category I-ILS for safe landing of aircraft during rainy season, cloudy weather and night time. A high-frequency radar was commissioned at the airport. Opening of two currency exchange counters, duty-free shops, ATM and a bank branch, a mini area traffic control tower, barracks for CISF personnel, quarters for employees are some of the other developments that have taken place at the airport.
The airport built a 8.5-km perimeter road around it to enable vehicles to reach any part of the airport premises at any time of emergency. A compound wall was also built.
The airport obtained ISO 9001 certification in 2004 for quality management system and ISO 14,001 certification in 2006 for environment management system. Passenger traffic
The Union Government declared the airport as a Customs airport in 2006.
The passenger traffic at the airport increased from 2.2 lakh in 1998 to 6.7 lakh in 2007.New terminal building
The new terminal building at Kenjar is coming up with associated amenities at an estimated cost of Rs. 147 crore. There will be two aero bridges, five parking stands, separate arrival and departure halls and other mandatory facilities there. It is expected to be completed by this year-end, Mr. Vasudeva said.