Explained: How Will The Upcoming TN Hosur Airport Impact Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport

The Government of Tamil Nadu had announced their plan to construct a new international airport in Hosur. As the plans have started to take shape into surveys and site visits, experts say the Karnataka Government faces the threat of losing business at its Kempegowda International Airport.

What Is The Problem?

Following up on their announcement to build a commercial airport in Hosur, the Tamil Nadu government with the Airport Authority of India (AAI), has already begun surveying various locations for the construction of the Hosur-based airport. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin, announced that the new international airport will be built on 2,000 acres of land and will be able to handle 30 million passengers annually. 

From almost all angles, this airport will stand as a benefit. Not just for the Tamil Nadu government but also for the centre and the public. However, the construction could be immensely detrimental to the Karnataka government. 

What Does Karnataka Stand To Lose?

The root cause of this issue is the very location of the airport: Hosur. 

Just 40 km away from Bangalore lies Hosur, which is a border away from Bangalore’s IT park centres in Electronic City. This area is home to many IT Parks, industries and holds much of the migrant population of the city. 

To put it in perspective, Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is 52 km away from Electronic City. The airport is technically 35km outside of Bangalore near Devanahalli, Bangalore (Rural). 

Meanwhile, Hosur is just about 20km away from Electronic City. The potential locations that were studied for the Hosur airport include the existing airstrip, Thogarai Agraharam, Dhasapalli, and Shoolagiri, which are both closer to Electronic City than KIA.

Thus, the development of the much closer Hosur airport is welcomed by the public of Bangalore. But with this initiative of the Tamil Nadu government, Bangalore’s KIA stands to lose its footfall. Being stationed well outside the city, the travel to the Bangalore airport is tedious. Bangalore MPs have also commented on the lack of accessibility of KIA by residents in the south and east of the city.

The Rs 5,000 crores Karnatak Government spent in opening the second terminal to handle more travellers in KIA will go to waste if the Hosur airport comes up.

MP Tejasvi Surya spoke on the same, stating, "Bangalore has already lost a fair share of the deal in terms of manufacturing units to Tamil Nadu." He calls on the Karnataka government 'not to lose out' to Tamil Nadu in the case of international airports.

Bangalore currently houses the third slowest traffic in the world, according to the TomTom Traffic Index 2024. The average duration to traverse 10 km in Bengaluru was 30 minutes and 10 seconds. If there is soon to be a closer alternative, the public of Bangalore will naturally migrate to that rather than travelling in traffic jams for over 50km. 

A "Tricky Situation," Says The Centre 

In February, the centre reached out to Tamil Nadu, promising their support for the development of the Hosur airport. Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Minister for Civil Aviation, announced that the central government would adopt a “positive” approach to the state government’s bid to set up a new airport in Hosur. He, however, said the existing concession agreement with Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) made it “a challenging and tricky situation”.

The agreement that Naidu is referring to is that between BIAL and the civil aviation ministry. According to this, “No new or existing airport shall be permitted by the Government of India to be developed as, or improved or upgraded into, an international airport within an aerial distance of 150km of the (KIA) airport.”

Naidu stressed that his government wants to create “as many airports as possible”, suggested to the Tamil Nadu Government that BIAL, GoI and TN must sit down together to reach a consensus. 

In case these discussions between the two states fall through, Tamil Nadu will have to wait until the 25th anniversary of the Kempegowda Airport in 2033, as the 150 km ban agreement will expire then, allowing them to lawfully develop the airport. 

Karnataka Ministers Concerned 

Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya expressed that, “ If the neighbouring state has announced the development of a new airport, Karnataka must not be caught napping, we should speed up the work now for the second Bangalore airport.” He added that the location for a second Bangalore airport should allow for the mobility of people from the south and east of Bangalore to access an airport without having to travel to Devanahalli.

Satya Arikutharam, an independent mobility expert, spoke on the same issue, stating that good connectivity to airports will invite business enterprises to move to areas closer to them. Thus, it will lead to the Hosur region's importance if an airport is developed there.