From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Oct 26: With its the right traffic potential and ideal geographical location, the Kempegowda International Airport operated by Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) finds itself in a sweet spot as airlines can easily cover all key markets located within a 4-6 hour flying range.
This will enable air travelers from Bengaluru to explore more places as Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) — operator of the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru — expands its flight offerings with the launch of seven new routes and the addition of two airlines during the Winter Schedule 2018, commencing October 28.
This five-month schedule will be in effect until March 30, 2019 and BIAL is confident of achieving 17% increae in international air traffic during the winter schedule.
Phuket is the new international destination, with Go Air offering a direct connection to the southern Thai province. With this, Bengaluru will now connect to 82 destinations – 53 domestic and 29 international. Three other airlines — Indigo, Air India and Go Air — will launch additional flights from Bengaluru to eight existing international destinations.
Indigo will operate daily flights to Male, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Kathmandu; Air India will fly to Bangkok and London; Go Air will operate to Male. Air India Express will launch a round-trip flight to Singapore – flying four times a week – from October 29.
The new domestic destinations are Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Udaipur (Spice Jet); Udaipur and Prayagraj (erstwhile Allahabad) (Indigo); Aizawl via Guwahati (Jet Airways) and Kolhapur (Alliance Air).
The new Airlines set to make their Bengaluru debut are Turkish Cargo and Air India Express. Turkish Cargo, one of the fastest growing air freight services, will operate two flights a week, flying between Istanbul and Bengaluru – one via Colombo and the other via Daman – from October 31. A total of 13 Cargo Airlines, including two domestic and 11 international, now operate from BIAL Airport.
"Resurgent growth translates into the need for new routes and the addition of aircraft to the existing base. We will continue to work with our airline partners to offer passengers attractive routes that connect Bengaluru to some of the most exotic destinations in India and abroad,” said BIAL’s Chief Operating Officer Javed Malik.
“Our new services will further bolster the economy of the City and enhance the reputation of the Airport as the gateway to a New India," Malik added.
At the start of Winter 2018, the BIAL is expected to achieve Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) of about 744 movements per day (659 domestic, 85 international).
This is expected to progressively achieve 766 ATMs per day (675 domestic and 91 international).
This five-month period will see the hourly runway capacity will increase to 40 movements per hour from the existing 38.
During the recently concluded Summer Schedule, BLR Airport recorded an average of 691 daily movements (613 domestic, 78 international).
The average international ATMs for Winter 2018-19 is expected to grow at 17% over Summer 2018, while domestic movements are expected to achieve a growth of 10%. The overall growth forecast for the forthcoming schedule is pegged at 11%.
Top international airlines from Bengaluru during this schedule by air traffic movements will be Indigo with 10.4% market share of overseas operations, while Air India is second with 8.3%. Indigo continues to lead in domestic market share at 46.2% market share. Jet Airways, including its subsidiary JetLite, will together constitute 13.3%.