From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Oct 21: Cargo volumes at the Kempegowda International Airport, operated by Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL), are gathering momentum with international cargo leading the recovery after a prolonged slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This resurgence in cargo movement powered BIAL to become the first metro airport in India to record growth in freight in September 2020, compared to the same period last year.

Improved connectivity and increase in Passenger to Cargo (P2C) aircraft, combined with proactive measures by BIAL to enable seamless processing seems to have pushed cargo volumes into positive territory.

In the first two quarters of FY 2020-21, between April and September, BIAL cargo terminals processed 131,603 MT of freight.

The cargo processed in September was 32,449 MT, a growth of +0.3%, against the same period last year.

September witnessed a +4.5% growth in international cargo, of which export cargo grew by +7.6%. Meanwhile, domestic cargo is showing a slower recovery at -5.2% lower than the same period in the previous year.

Perishable cargo has been one of the major growth drivers, with BIAL having processed 17,212 MT during this period. The airport accounted for highest exports of perishables among Indian airports till June 2020 (source: APEDA website).

BIAL also processed 180,745 kgs of pomegranate from April to August 2020, to emerge as the leading airport for pomegranate exports from India. The other segments driving growth are readymade garments, engineering goods, pharma and medical supplies.

Introduction of BIAL’s road feeder service – LOGI Connect – to link cities like Tirupur, Coimbatore, Ambur, Salem, Erode, Hyderabad and Chennai further augmented the growth, powering the airport’s all-India market share of air cargo from 11% to 14%.

Before the pandemic, around 60% of domestic and international freight was being carried in the belly space of passenger aircraft and the remainder in freighters.

With the reduction in passenger flights due to restrictions, several airlines – both domestic and international – converted P2C aircraft, enabling the availability of a larger amount of cargo capacity. As a result, BIAL saw the growth of cargo aircraft movements by 139% against the previous year.

While Q2 witnessed a 46% growth in ATMs against Q1, the total tonnage, too, improved by 84%.

BIAL recovers 88% of pre-COVID-19 routes

The Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru has reconnected 51 domestic destinations, achieving 88% connectivity of the pre-COVID-19 routes.

In addition, the Government of India's Vande Bharat Mission and Air Bubble programmes have enabled BIAL to connect with 22 international destinations.

With the gradual easing of restrictions, air traffic movements have witnessed an encouraging trend, recovering to 53% of the previous year's flight movements, following successive measures to unlock India’s economy.