Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a state-owned defence company, owns the airfield and runs a testing facility in conjunction with the Indian Armed Forces.

Although HAL later modified its stance and some residents of the city protested, an agreement between the new airport's operator and the state and national governments obligated the enclave to close.

During World War II, Indian magnate Walchand Hirachand sought to build and repair planes in India, which at the time did not have any aircraft industry of its own.

[6] The national government then combined all domestic carriers into a single company called Indian Airlines, which was providing nonstop service from Bangalore to six cities by 1970.

[10][11] To keep pace with the growing civilian air traffic, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) constructed an instrument landing system for the runway and another terminal.

At the inauguration ceremony in January 1999, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee observed that the city's accelerated pace of growth meant that the expansion would only help in the short-term, so government leaders needed to work toward building a new airport.

[9][15] A group of private companies evinced interest in the new-airport project and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka government; the agreement specified that airline flights would switch to the new facility upon its inauguration.

[16][17] While the union government supported HAL, the consortium insisted that the civil enclave would need to cease operations in order to ensure the new airport's profitability.

[9] State officials added that the lake, apartment complexes, and other buildings surrounding the HAL airport made it impossible to significantly expand the site to accommodate future growth in air traffic.

[29][30][31] Similar to the memorandum that the original consortium had signed in the 1990s, the contract barred commercial flights from operating at the HAL airport for 25 years after the new airfield opened.

Worried about the dangers of a crowded airspace, officials requested domestic airlines to consider discontinuing the addition of flights and operating fewer services during the busiest hours.

[36] The airports authority also collaborated with HAL to construct extra parking bays, and by late 2006 it had finished enlarging the two terminals, thereby raising the yearly capacity by 800,000 people.

[46] Even the managing director of HAL's Bangalore branch supported retaining some domestic flights, as he believed the immense demand for air travel made it sensible for the city to have two airports.

[39] Additionally, 20,000 AAI workers across India walked off their jobs in March 2008 over the shutting of the civil enclaves in Bangalore and Hyderabad; they did not end their strike until the union government affirmed that the airports would remain operational for other purposes.

[50] On 23 May 2008, the high court of the state rejected a petition by a local organisation to delay the new airport's opening, ensuring that the transfer of passenger and revenue cargo flights between the airfields would take place at midnight.

[60] The airport accommodates a wide array of non-scheduled civilian operations, including VIP aircraft movements, charter flights, and air ambulances.

[54][61][62] However, it does not generally function as a diversion alternative to Kempegowda International Airport in case of emergencies; the AAI no longer maintains the terminal buildings to handle passengers, and no airline flight may touch down at the airfield per the concession agreement.