Parliamentary committee compels government to negotiate with private parties developing greenfield airports that they should not shut the already existing airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Banglore-based GMR Group said it would not be economically viable to run two airports simultaneously.
   
Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Chairman of GMR Group said, "We do have challenges. There is a commitment from the government that they will provide us with all assistance. It (having two airports) is not in economic interest as the operational cost will go up."
 
The aviation ministry faces a bigger problem in Bangalore, where the new airport developed by a syndicates led by Siemens has a capacity of handling 9 million passengers annually, while the city already has a traffic of 10.5 million a year.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd's (GHIAL) newly- built Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, which has been developed in about 5,500 acres in Shamshabad near the city at an investment of Rs 2,478 crore, is scheduled to commence commercial operations from March 16.

The existing Begumpet Airport was supposed to be closed down under a pre-development agreement between GHIAL and the government.