BIAL ramps up capacity

More the five years after it was established in rather tumultuous circumstances, the Bangalore International Airport, is all set for expanded capacity, along with a facelift and a new identity.

The airport, set up during May 2008 amidst stiff opposition that the location was too distant from the city with the approach not easy enough, has weathered many such disturbances in its growth trajectory to grab a spot among the few airports in India which are profitable.

Run by a consortium, led by Hyderabad-based GVK Group, the airport is set to unveil a new identity - Kempe Gowda International Airport, named after the founder of the Bangalore.

A feudatory ruler under the Vijayanagar Empire, Kempe Gowda ruled over the region, that is modern-day Bangalore, for 56 years till his death in 1569. The opening of the new terminal - Terminal 1A - will coincide with the renaming of the Bengaluru International Airport.

The expansion, part of the airport's Rs 1,200 crore expansion plan, will also increase the capacity by about 50 per cent to eventually handle 20 million passengers from the present 13 million in the last year.

For the next five years, the compounded annual traffic growth through Bangalore airport is expected to be 8 per cent.

At an earlier occasion, BIAL officials had said traffic was expected to grow at 17 per cent every year until 2010.

However, Bangalore's traffic actually grew at a jaw-dropping 40 per cent per annum between 2005 and 2008.

Much of that came from the low-cost airlines that started from Bangalore.

The result was that when the facility opened, it had a traffic volume of 10.2 million instead of the projected 6.5 million.

The airport, which had a box design but a functional one, will now sport a more visually appealing design. Kempe Gowda will overnight, hence, shoot into international limelight with the airport serving as a springboard to global destinations.

While the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has approved the renaming of the airport after Kempe Gowda, it was the previous BJP government in the state under Chief Minister-ship of Jagadish Shettar who suggested renaming the airport after Kempe Gowda.

It got the nod of the state legislature when the Houses had unanimously passed a resolution.

There were several other names vying for the honour, including some religious preachers and reformers or former rulers of Mysore.

The new terminal includes new facilities and services for passengers, including additional immigration and emigration counters, check-in counters and common-use self-service (CUSS).

The airport is now Code-F compliant (aircraft above 80-metres can be handled) and has received approval to permit regular operations of these aircraft from the Director General Civil Aviation. "Additionally, Code-F compliant stand has been created as part of the T1 expansion and it will have the capability to accommodate A380 type of aircraft," according to a statement made earlier to Business Standard.

The GVK group has a 43 per cent stake in BIAL. Siemens Projects Ventures holds 26 per cent and Unique Zurich has 5 per cent. The remaining 26 per cent is divided between state-owned entities, Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation and Airports Authority of India. This move by GVK led consortium to go in for an expansion comes at a time when GVK Group - which also manages the Mumbai airport - is under high debt and looking to rope in investors at its airport holding level or even open to offloading a part of its stake in Bangalore airport level as well.

BIGGER TAKE-OFF

* Capacity to go from 12 million to 20 million

* It employs 7,200 people and is expected to double that

* One of the few profitable airports in India

* Second approach road being planned

* It reported revenues of Rs 628 crore and profit of Rs 104 crore last fiscal

* Has a debt of Rs 2,200 crore

* Handles 312 aircraft movements per day

* 33 airlines fly to and from BIAL and connects to 52 destinations across the country and the world