Bengaluru
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After being hit by the first wave of COVID-19, the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) saw a big jump in passenger traffic and air traffic movement in the financial year 2021-22.
The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), operator of the Airport said compared to 2020-21, passenger traffic saw growth of 45% in domestic travel and 136% growth in international travel. The footfall of air-passengers has increased from 10.91 million (2020-21) to 16.28 million (2021-22). During pre-COVID times (calendar year 2019), the footfall recorded at the KIA was 33.65 million passengers.
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In a press release, the BIAL has attributed reasons such as restrictions easing up in the last financial year, higher vaccination penetration and increased economic activities as factors for recovery.
Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) witnessed a recovery of 64%. The airport handled an ATM of 1,48,320 that included 15,482 international flights and 1,32,838 domestic flights. The highest number of ATMs were recorded on December 19,2021; on that day, the airport handled operations of 590 flights. On other hand, the highest number of single day pax (air passengers) was witnessed on December 24, 2021, with the KIA welcoming 82,022 travellers.
The release states that the number of domestic destinations served directly from Bengaluru Airport has grown to 76 compared to 54 last year. The top domestic routes were Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Goa. In the same period, the airport served 20 international destinations with Dubai, Male, Doha, London, and Frankfurt being the top cities contributing 67% to the traffic. In 2019, the airport handled 2.35 lakh ATMs that include 30,556 International flights and 2.04 lakh domestic flights.
“Growth in the international segment is expected to increase as more airlines reinstate operations to and from KIA during the coming months.Scheduled international operations commenced effective from March 21, 2022, and as a result, airlines have started reinstating their pre-Covid international network from the Bengaluru Airport. By the second quarter of the current financial year, airlines are expected to serve most of their international pre-COVID non-stop destinations, ” stated the release.
The BIAL said that the highest tonnage cargo handled in the last financial year was 4.11 lakh metric tonne. The airport processed 2.71 lakh MT of International cargo, recording a growth of 31% and 1.39 lakh domestic cargo, recording a growth of 17% compared to the year 2020-21.