GNS/ Bengaluru: Three Rafale fighter jets of the French Air Force landed at Air Force Station Yelahanka at Bengalure for the five-day show (Aero India 2019) that scheduled to be open on 20 February. An IAF officer at the air base informed that the three aircraft landed around 6.30 p.m. ahead of Aero India 2019, the 12th edition of the country’s military and civil air show.
“Many more Indian and foreign planes taking part in either static or flying display will start arriving over the next couple of days,” he added. There has been much anticipation over these French birds. The IAF’s own arsenal of Mirage-2000s, MiG-21s and a vintage Dakota have already arrived. A briefing and familiarisation of the air space will be held on February 15 after which the metal birds will start practicing for the air spectacle, the officer said.
The full dress rehearsal will be held on Monday, down to the VVIP arrivals two days later. “Over the next 10 days, the skies over NH 7 and the Yelahanka air base will really get noisy with a lot of traffic bound for Aero India,” said another person close to the development. About nine nautical miles further up (some 16 km by road), civil air traffic restrictions will come into force at the Kempegowda International Airport from February 14 to 24. In January, the airport announced that the runway would be partially closed to accommodate aerial displays.
