New Delhi, Mar 19: Facing stiff opposition from several quarters to its decision to close existing airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad after new ones were opened there, the government on Tuesday said it will discuss the possibility of keeping both operational with the developers.

It also said that the user development fee (UDF) to be charged from outbound passengers at these two places would be kept low for domestic fliers. The GMR-developed Hyderabad airport is to open in a few days while Siemens-backed Bangalore one is scheduled to open on May 11.

Aviation minister Praful Patel said, "We will review the decision to close the existing airports in due course, keeping in mind our contractual agreements with the developers."

Under the agreement, existing airports can handle only general aviation (private planes of the high and mighty being flown for personal use), defence and VVIP aircrafts. All schedule commercial traffic has to shift to new airport to ensure their financial viability.

The government is facing the heat from general public, Left parties and stakeholders like AAI over shifting regular operations to the new airports.