A consensus to this effect was reached by the officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) at a meeting held in New Delhi on Monday to review the new airport's preparedness to begin flight operations from the scheduled date.
According to informed sources, the DGCA had expressed concern over several safety provisions, including the incomplete ATC facility at the airport. A formal announcement on the postponement of the launch date is expected to be made on Tuesday.
Following such developments, flights will continue to operate from the existing HAL airport.
"We discussed several issues pertaining to the facilities at the airport. One of the crucial components was the ATC. We have thought it fit not to hurry with the inauguration," said a source.
The move comes in the backdrop of the recent visit by a team of officials from the civil aviation ministry to the city's new airport. The team had asked BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Ltd), the developers of the airport, to ensure that the ATC facility was ready by March 20.
"The personnel posted at the ATC need time to familiarise themselves with the equipment. They require training for at least a month on various equipment at the ATC facility. As the airport is expected to clock over 480 traffic movements per day, a study of the traffic pattern has to be conducted. Moreover, the ATC has to be kept on standby mode for a minimum of 1,000 hours before it is actually commissioned. However, these mandatory specifications cannot be met at the new airport before the scheduled date of inauguration," the source added.
Apart from the ATC facility, the ministry officials had made 58 observations regarding starting commercial operations at the airport.
The postponement of the launch date will come as a respite to the state government, which has taken up several new infrastructure projects to improve road connectivity to the airport.
The Greater Bangalore City Corporation, which has taken up construction of 10 underpasses to make the road to the airport a signal-free corridor, expects to complete work on at least five underpasses before the airport is thrown open to passenger traffic. At present, one underpass has been completed and work on two are in progress.