Already domestic hub, expecting to become global hub in 15 yrs: BIAL COO

He said it is not right to compare Indian airports to the airports in city-states (such as Singapore) as they are only carrying international traffic

Bengaluru airport is already a domestic hub — a transit point for two domestic services — and it expects to evolve into a global hub comparable to airports in Doha and Singapore within the next 15 years, according to Satyaki Raghunath, chief operating officer of Bangalore International Airport (BIAL), in an interview with Business Standard.

“Domestically, we are already a hub. We serve 72 destinations, largely driven by IndiGo. Twenty per cent to 30 per cent of IndiGo’s Bengaluru traffic comprises connecting flights, including their eight daily international flights and connections to seven partner carriers,” he said.

Fairfax-led BIAL operates the Bengaluru airport.

The flow of international-to-domestic and domestic-to-international transit traffic through Bengaluru airport is also growing.

“But to reach the level of Dubai, Doha, and Singapore, it will take another 15 years. In those hubs, the government owns the airports, airlines, ground handling companies, etc., all integrated to facilitate air traffic through a single hub. Everything is geared to push air traffic through that one place. Also, there is no domestic traffic in any of these markets,” he added.

Raghunath said that comparing Indian airports to city-state airports like Singapore, which predominantly handle international traffic, is misleading.

“India is primarily a domestic market. Comparing ourselves to Dubai, Doha, and Singapore is wrong. Instead, Indian carriers should focus on expanding their share of international traffic through more point-to-point destinations. That’s a realistic aspiration," he noted.

He pointed out that foreign airports excel in facilitating seamless connections for passengers.

“We can learn from them in areas such as automated immigration, expedited security processes, and integrating arriving and departing domestic passengers at the airport," he said.

Bengaluru airport expects a 10-15 per cent increase in total passenger traffic for 2024-25 (FY25), driven by consistent high demand.

In 2023-24, the airport handled 37.5 million passengers, marking a 17.6 per cent year-on-year growth due to the post-pandemic boom in air travel.

“In the busiest financial year before the pandemic, we handled 33 million passengers. Last financial year, we handled 37.5 million passengers. For this financial year, we estimate traffic between 41 million and 43 million passengers, although the exact figure is challenging to predict. Unexpected factors like the collapse of Go First and grounding of aircraft due to engine issues impacted projections. The situation has stabilised somewhat, and we expect passenger traffic to grow by 10-15 per cent in FY25,” he said.

Bengaluru airport’s aircraft movement capacity is expected to reach saturation by 2035-36.

“With both runways operational and depending on average aircraft size, fleet mix, and seat load factors, we aim to handle between 90 million and 110 million passengers annually. Currently, we are at 37.5 million passengers per year, indicating potential growth to nearly treble our current passenger traffic,” he said.

He also highlighted the potential for growth in the domestic cargo market at Bengaluru airport.

“We foresee growth driven by just-in-time electronics, e-commerce supplies from players like Amazon and Flipkart, pharmaceuticals, perishables, and other high-value goods. If semiconductor manufacturing and more production move to India, domestic cargo growth will be significant. Currently, the domestic freighter space in India is limited, but we see market evolution,” he projected.

In the last financial year, Bengaluru airport handled roughly 440,000 tonnes of cargo.

“Our current cargo handling capacity is 715,000 tonnes per annum. By the mid-2030s, we plan to expand this capacity to 1.2-1.6 million tonnes per annum,” he said.