Bengaluru: Kempegowda International Airport sees record growth of 17.6% in last fiscal

BENGALURU: The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has recorded an all-time record of passenger traffic, catering to 26.9 million passengers in 2017-18. This included 23.1 million domestic passengers and 3.8 million international fliers.
This is a 17.6% increase from the previous fiscal which had seen 22.9 million passengers, said the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL).
The airport witnessed 1.97 lakh air traffic movements (ATMs) during 2017-18, a growth of 10.8%, while cargo movement saw a growth of 9.1% (3.48 lakh metric tonne).A BIAL press note said 44 airlines connected Bengaluru with 67 destinations (46 domestic and 21 international) during the period.

“We saw robust growth in both passenger traffic, air traffic and cargo throughput, resulting in record numbers. This is truly a reflection of the status of Bengaluru as one of the fastest growing cities in India,” BIAL CEO and MD Hari Marar said.
He said 2018-19 will be a year of several enhancements in technology and infrastructure which, in turn, will ensure KIA continues to deliver a superlative passenger experience and be among the top airports in India.
March was the busiest month of the year, with the airport handling 25.5 lakh passengers and 31,996 MT of airfreight. In 2017-18, KIA added six new routes with four in the domestic sector including Vadodara, Jammu, Silchar and Udaipur and two international — Amsterdam and Bahrain. Two new airlines that began operations were DHL Aviation International Cargo and Malindo Air.
Way forward
The second runway will be operational by 2019 and terminal 2 by 2021. Work on the second runway and design approvals for terminal 2 began in 2017. “US architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has designed T2, while Turner International will be the PMC (project management consultant) for the project. The first phase of T2 will cater to 25 million passengers annually (MPA), while the second phase will add another 20 million passenger capacity. It is estimated that on completion of both phases, the airport’s overall capacity will reach the 65-million mark,” BIAL stated.