Bangalore International Airport handles 50 million passengers in five years

In 2013, the airport is set to open new terminal with a capacity to handle 20 million passengers annually

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) today achieved the milestone of handling its 50 millionth passenger since the opening of the new international airport in May 2008. Within days of this announcement, it would have handled half a million Aircraft Movements and clocked in 1 million metric tonnes of Cargo as well.

To mark the occasion, the BIAL greeted the 50 millionth passenger by giving him a surprise hamper. The management also declared an entire year’s free usage of the F&B offering as a gift to the passenger.

Commenting on the achievement, Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, BIAL said, “This is a special day for us at Bengaluru International Airport. This achievement comes within five years of operations and is a testimony of our ability to meet the rapid demand and growth of the domestic and international air traffic.”

“Looking ahead, we will set another milestone in 2013 with the phased opening of the expanded terminal. The new terminal will have the capacity to handle 20 million passengers annually,” Reddy said.
 
Traffic figures at the Bengaluru International Airport stood at 12.71 million for 2011-12. The International passenger traffic movement between April-December grew by 6%. However, the domestic passenger traffic showed a decline of 10%. While the major domestic carriers have showed an increase in Air Traffic Movements Year on Year, an overall drop in the domestic front can be attributed to the stoppage of Kingfisher Airlines as well as the general slump in economy.

The airport, presently, handles 285 aircraft movements per day, servicing approximately 32,000 passengers each day. Between April-December 6.86 million passengers transited via the Bengaluru International Airport.
 
In 2012, three airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Silk Air and AeroLogic Cargo increased their frequencies from the Bengaluru International Airport. While Malaysia Airlines has started a second frequency for Bangalore – Kuala Lumpur, Silk Air has one additional weekly frequency.
 
Currently, 33 airlines fly to BIAL and connect to over 51 destinations across the country and the world. Newer routes are in the pipeline with more international airlines approaching the Bengaluru International Airport to start the operations. New domestic routes in 2012 include Belgaum, Ranchi and Tuticorin.
 
The airport also welcomed the Dreamliner 787 as Air India’s first scheduled 787 service that has been operating out of the airport daily.
 
The airport handled 226,817 metric tonnes of cargo in 2012.

In 2012, Bengaluru International Airport also became the first airport in the country to convert ground operations to bio-fuel.