Mangalore Airport New Terminal - Final Countdown Begins...

by Florine Roche -
Pics by Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network

B R Sena, Joint General Manager (CNS) took over the reigns of the Mangalore Airport from the dynamic M R Vasudeva in April this year, who accepted his promotion after dithering for almost 8 months. M R Vasudeva during his tenure had set high standards and gave a new impetus to the Mangalore airport. Naturally, B R Sena had the tough time living up to the expectations set by his predecessor. But the issue of appointing him as the Airport Director is also shrouded in uncertainty depriving him of taking any vital decisions in his news postings.

Undaunted by these high expectations Sena has been going about his work with the same tempo and enthusiasm to make the Integrated Terminal Building of Mangalore Airport operational as early as possible. It means that the commissioning of the much awaited new Integrated Terminal Building will succeed in providing international airport status to Mangalore Airport. It will be a major victory for all those who have been trying hard in realizing this dream of many years.

Speaking to Daijiworld Sena said that Chairman of Airport Authority of India had visited and surveyed the work at the new terminal on May 7, 2009. “Based on this assessment the target date for the completion of the building is set as 31st July, 2009. Technical people in charge of the work have been positive about completing the work by this stipulated time. If everything goes as expected the inauguration of the new terminal will be held in the first week of September and at the same time the operations will also be shifted to the new terminal”, he explained.

The Civil and Engineering work will be completed by the end of July this year. Priority will then be given to provide other basic and essential services at the new terminal building. “The day the first passenger of the first flight arrives he has to be impressed and gauge the availability of all the facilities. Within the next seven days the airport terminal should be equipped with all the facilities”, Sena pointed out.

Adhering to the deadline it has set is feasible in an ideal situating assuming that everything goes right and there are no bottlenecks in the way of completing the project. According to Sena the only bottleneck visible at the moment is whether the oil browsers (oil tankers) will be able to move in the approach road or not due to its steepness. If these browsers are not able to move in this steep road then we have to find an alternate road for the purpose of transporting refuel facility for aircrafts. Once the operations are shifted to the new terminal the old building will be used for cargo handling and the continuance of the same will depend on the volume of cargo.

B R Sena who is from Kolkotta has served in different places all over the country including Bangalore. He has opted for serving in Mangalore after a long stint of almost 8 years in HAL airport, Bangalore, handling operations there at the crucial time between 2004 and 2008 when air traffic was at the peak. When M R Vasudeva was transferred Sena opted for Mangalore. Since his family is in Bangalore it makes commuting between Mangalore and Bangalore easier so that he can visit his family when required. He likes everything about Mangalore including its climate which is similar to his native Kolkotta. “The atmosphere is peaceful and people are really nice. I have stayed in many places during my 27 years of service. But this is the one place where all my belongings have remained safe though I was away from Mangalore for more than a month”, he recalls.

For Sena every work is challenging and every challenge is interesting. Let us hope he takes up the challenge of completing the new terminal before the stipulated time giving international status to Mangalore airport.

Having realized that parking contractors were not doing justice by charging car parking fee to every vehicle that came to the airport Sena has come to the rescue of those vehicles that entered the airport just for picking or dropping their relatives or friends. Now a time limit of 10 minutes is given for four wheelers without charging any parking fee once they enter the airport. In the new terminal building the system will be computerized where no vehicles can escape from paying parking fee beyond the 10 minute time frame allowed for vehicles.