Passengers heading towards the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and those coming towards the city had to face hardship due to the VIP movement on Friday.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the KIA Terminal-2, unveiling the 108 ft tall Kempe Gowda statue and also taking part in a public function in Devanahalli, commuter movement was restricted at Mehkri Circle, Hebbal Junction, and Kempegowda Airport elevated corridor between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
This led to inconvenience to the passengers as they had to instead use the Hennur-Kothanur-Bagaluru-Begur Road to reach the airport.
The Bengaluru traffic police and Bangalore International Airport Limited had issued an advisory a day before the Prime Minister’s visit to the passengers to avoid the elevated toll road.
Anticipating heavy traffic flow and to avoid missing their flight, many passengers reached the airport hours ahead of their scheduled flights and waited outside the terminal. A few others were stuck in the heavy traffic congestion. Airlines sent messages to the passengers to reach out to their staff in case they were delayed in the traffic.
Some took to social media to vent: “Bangalore Kochuveli Express delayed for 4 hrs due to PM’s visit and airport road completely blocked with KSRTC buses heading to airport for events. We have a flight to catch at 1.30 p.m. and are still stuck in traffic.”
However, they said that they made it on time to board their flight.
BIAL said that various measures had been put in place to ensure there was no impact on passenger processing as well as operations. A BIAL spokesperson said that all flights departed on time and added that there were no incidents of passengers missing their flights.
