Your tower is near a flight path: airport height rules in Bengaluru
PropEnabler.AI · 28 October 2026
Every tall building near an airport needs permission for its height. Without it, a project can be held at a lower height than the brochure promised, or face trouble getting its occupancy certificate. Bengaluru has two airports that matter for buyers: Kempegowda International Airport in the north and HAL Airport in the east.
The rule in brief
Under the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s height-restriction rules (GSR 751(E), 2015), the Airports Authority of India publishes Colour Coded Zoning Maps for civil airports. They cover a radius of up to 20 km around the airport and split it into small grid squares. Each square has a maximum height a building may reach, measured above sea level.
- If the building stays under its grid’s permitted height, the local planning authority can approve it.
- If it goes higher, or sits in the approach and take-off paths, the builder must get a No Objection Certificate through AAI’s online system, NOCAS.
- HAL Airport is run by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, not AAI, so the clearance route there can differ; the planning authority will say which applies.
The maps are public on the NOCAS website, but reading them needs the plot’s exact coordinates and its height above sea level, which buyers rarely have.
What our map shows
GroundTruth flags a project for an airport height check when it is within 5 km of either airport, or within 20 km and 15 floors or taller. Across 255 projects:
| Airport height check | Projects |
|---|---|
| Caution: height clearance should be confirmed | 125 |
| Pass: outside 20 km, or under 15 floors | 55 |
| Not checked: within 20 km but floor count unknown | 75 |
Of the 125 cautions, 99 are near HAL Airport and 26 near Kempegowda. HAL sits in the middle of the eastern growth belt, so many towers in Indiranagar, Old Airport Road, Marathahalli and Whitefield fall inside its 20 km radius.
Our rule is deliberately simple: the 15-floor line is our own screen, not a legal threshold. The real limit depends on the exact grid square and ground level. A caution means “ask for the clearance”, not “this building is illegal”.
What to ask the builder
- The height clearance letter. For a tower near either airport, ask for the AAI NOC, or the planning authority’s note that the height is within the zoning map.
- Height in the clearance against height in the brochure. The permitted top elevation should match the number of floors being sold.
- Any changes after approval. Extra floors added after the clearance need a fresh one.
- The occupancy certificate. For a ready project, the occupancy certificate is the final proof that the building as built was cleared.
How GroundTruth uses this
The airport check is one of 12 legal and technical checks on every project card, alongside the lake buffer, power lines, RERA registration and the occupancy certificate. Together they make up the legal and technical risk score, 15% of the decision score. As the legal and technical reports come in, the clearance documents themselves will replace the distance screen.
This post explains a planning rule in plain language. It is not legal advice; confirm any specific property with the builder’s clearances and a lawyer.
Sources: Ministry of Civil Aviation notification GSR 751(E) and AAI guidelines for Colour Coded Zoning Maps; AAI NOCAS portal; airport locations from public records; distances and floor counts from the GroundTruth map, October 2026.