With T3, Kempgowda airport eyeing a traffic of 90-100 million passengers

Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport is likely to see a third terminal (T3)  towards the late 2020s - early 2030s, which will increase its capacity to a whopping 90-100 million, the airport’s chief operating officer Satyaki Raghunath told DH during an exclusive interaction on the sidelines of the walkthrough of its Terminal-2 (T2). 

“We are just starting another master plan update in the course of the next 30-45 days which will define how we get from  60-70 million passengers a year to 90-100 million passengers a year,” he informed. The plan will also map the location of the future T3, installation of a people mover system between the terminals and integration of the Bengaluru Metro with the airport, he added.

KIAL COO Satyaki Raghunath. 

Presently, refurbishment of Terminal-1 (T1) is underway which is to be completed in the next 12-18 months, taking the terminal’s peak capacity from the current 26 million to 35 million.

”We have to effectively redevelop the MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing services) and the baggage areas which are back of the house because those are 15 years old. We will also reconfigure the security lanes and add more retail and F&B outlets, all of this is a work in progress,” Raghunath said. 

Work on phase 2 of T2 (adding a capacity of 20 million) will also begin shortly after the refurbishment of T1 is complete. This includes the development of 40% of the area in the airport towards its south side, pursuant to which the terminal will be able to cater to a capacity of 45 million passengers. T2, which recently commenced international operations, presently has a peak domestic capacity of 1400 passengers per hour and an international capacity of 1,300 passengers per hour and is running at 45-50% of its overall capacity. 

While the two terminals are connected with shuttle services today, an automatic people mover system, (a rail connection) is being planned as part of the latest master plan on the lines of the facility at many large international airports including Changi, Shenzhen, Munich, Los Angeles and Jeddah. This will connect T1 and T2 and extend to T3 when it is ready. 

T2 Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru

The airport, which currently is seeing 105,000 passengers per day, is looking to close this fiscal year at 36-38 million passengers. While the first three months were busier than usual for the airport, Raghunath remarked that the period between August and October showed a muted growth because of GoFirst ceasing operations and major groundings of Indigo’s aircraft on the back of  Pratt & Whitney issues. 

“With the P&W issues not subsiding for at least the next six months, we will continue to see challenges in the capacity front and hence passenger traffic,” Raghunath highlighted. While international traffic is recovering, various players in the market are also struggling with shortages of metal (aircraft) and crew in the post-Covid world, Raghunath said.  “That also will get better over the next 12 months. So by next summer, you will see some stabilisation” he added. 

The much-awaited 460-acre airport city is in the works which will feature retail, dining and entertainment (RDE) village, a business park, a hotel with close to 800 rooms  (operated by Ginger, Vivanta), TajSATS cloud kitchen among other things. At least 4-5 projects must be completed in the next 4-5 years, Raghunath reiterated. 

The airport connects 75 destinations domestically, from 54 pre-Covid and 25 internationally. 

Indian airlines have shown great interest in making KIAL their hub. “Given the population size of most tier-I cities, you could have 3-4 hubs in India. The market in Bengaluru is very strong, not just in India but internationally especially in markets like Europe, North America, Australia etc which makes it a natural choice in terms of being a gateway to south and central India,” Raghunath said. 

Trials are going to begin for the Computer Tomography X-Ray (CTX) machines installed in T2 and as more and more international airlines also come on board, the technology will offer passengers seamless and quick pass through the security check. 

The airport has just completed a Rs 14,000 crore investment cycle, Raghunath informed. “Certainly for the next few years, we will be EBITDA positive, but we certainly won't be profitable and that's a natural consequence of capitalising a lot of infrastructure,” he said.