Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), the operator of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), is drawing up a new master plan to prepare for the airport’s next phase of development.
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Satyaki Raghunath, chief operating officer of the BIAL, told reporters on Thursday that the work on the master plan was about to start and that it would be ready in 12 to 14 months.
“We do a master plan update every four or five years as in the case of any airport around the world to make sure that we have got all of our facilities in order and to plan the next phase of development. We did the last one in 2018-19. We are going to do another one now,” Mr. Raghunath said.
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He added that the new master plan update would also think about where Terminal-3 (T-3), which was expected to come up by early 2030, would be located.
Mr. Raghunath said there was also a plan to connect Terminal-1 (T1), Terminal-2 (T-2), and the upcoming T-3 using an automated people mover (APM) system.
“In the longer term as we do the master plan, we also plan to have an APM system which is like a train which connects T-1, T-2, and also T-3 whenever it comes up. An APM system like the one in Changi and Dubai airports,” Mr. Raghunath said.
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He added that currently there was no such ride system in any of the airports in India and that BIAL would not execute this system till the KIA crosses 50 million passengers per annum (MPPA).
“We will start planning for this in this master plan but we won’t execute it till we cross 50 million passengers because it does not make sense for us to put that much of investment. We need to have that number of passengers to have such a ride system,” Mr. Raghunath added.
On Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil’s recent statement that the government was considering establishing a second airport on the Tumakuru-Chitradurga highway, he said that BIAL had no objection to this proposal.
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“We (the KIA) will get to the 80-90 million traffic mark by the late 2020s or early 2030s. We welcome it (the second airport proposal) because we will run out of capacity by the early 2030s as we only have two runways. If the aviation market in Bengaluru has to grow beyond two runways, then you have to find another space whether it is in Tumakuru or Mysuru Road or Hosur,” Mr. Raghunath said.
He added that the BIAL would also bid for operating a second airport if the government decides to develop it.
The BIAL is expecting the KIA’s passenger traffic by the end of this financial year to be somewhere between 36 to 38 billion MPPA.