From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Oct 12: Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, operated by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), has registered double digit growth of 28.1% in passenger traffic in the second quarter of FY 2018-19.
During the three-month period, ending September 30, 2018, 8.13 million passengers travelled through BLR Airport as against 6.35 million passengers during the corresponding period in FY 2017-18.
The robust increase in passenger numbers at BLR Airport stands testament to the impressive progress in traffic volumes every quarter.
The launch of new routes, superior load factors and attractive offers contributed to the BLR Airport’s growth trajectory and increased passenger volumes.
The second quarter witnessed 7.07 million domestic passengers from Bangalore, thereby registering an increase of 30.5% in comparison to the same period last year. In addition, 1.06 million passengers travelled to international destinations, recording an upsurge of 13.8% over the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Air Traffic Movement (ATM) improved by 23.4%, with a total of 59,184 landings and take-offs as against 47,971 during the same period last year. Surpassing its own record for the highest-ever ATM in a single day of 685 (May 4, 2018), the BLR Airport managed 692 aircraft on August 31, 2018. The average daily flight movement was 643 per day.
The quarter also recorded an increase of 16.4% in Cargo throughput, handling 104,093 metric tons in Q2 as compared to 89,426 metric tons processed during the same period last fiscal. International cargo processed during the period was 64,451 metric tonnes (15.8% over 55,660 MT in the same period last year), while the domestic cargo was at 39,642 MT (17.4% over 33,766 MT in the same period last year).
"We appreciate the support of our partners as we work together to give our passengers an excellent travel experience. We are third busiest airport in the Country and the second fastest growing airport in the world - and the demand for air travel will continue to soar in the coming years. To accommodate this growth, BLR Airport will continue to tap into a variety of new and emerging technologies and build new infrastructure that promises to transform the Airport experience,” said Hari Marar, MD & CEO, BIAL.
Kuwait Airways resumed services as BLR Airport continued to expand its network with 34 passenger airlines (8 domestic and 26 international, including 3 Indian carriers) connecting Bengaluru to 69 destinations – 46 domestic and 23 international – during this period.
A total of 12 cargo airlines - including two domestic and 10 international – currently operate at BLR Airport with Spice Jet's SpiceXpress being the latest entrant into freight operations.
While Delhi (1,121,861 pax), Mumbai (906,974 pax) and Hyderabad (455,907 pax) were the most preferred domestic destinations, Dubai (199,947 pax), Singapore (152,946 pax) and Colombo (74,303 pax) were the top three international destinations from BLR.
BLR Airport continued to show a strong On-Time Performance (OTP) – a key performance indicator – achieving on-time departures of 86%.
