KIA records 174 evacuations, 186 Vande Bharat flights

A total of 38,896 international passengers transited through the Kempegowda International Airport between April 1 and July 31. This includes 174 evacuation flights, repatriating 14,857 passengers from India and 186 Vande Bharat Mission flights, bringing 24,039 passengers from abroad.

The Vande Bharat Mission had commenced on May 7, 2020. “For the first time, evacuation flights took off to 11 new cities, including Auckland, Baku, Baghdad, Cairo, Incheon, Kuwait, Nigeria, Paro, Rome, Stockholm and Tbilisi.

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Cargo market

KIA’s share in the Indian cargo market rose from 11.2% to 15.3% during the pandemic-affected period between April and July 2020. The airport facilitated shipment of 71,406 Metric Tonnes (MT) of cargo, including 6,194 MT of perishables and 2,300 MT of pharma supplies.

International cargo throughout was 51,728 MT and domestic 19,678 MT during this period. Several airlines commenced ‘cargo-only’ flights using passenger aircraft to bolster depressed global airfreight capacity and drive a spike in cargo demand. About 40% of KIA’s cargo during the period was transported by Passenger-to-Cargo (PTC) aircraft.

Over 2,990 Cargo Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) were recorded, registering a 79% growth over the same period last year. The airport processed 341 MT of Covid-19-related cargo from March to July.

Oman Air set a new record by uplifting 49,593 kg of perishable cargo from KIA in June. This is the highest-ever PTC uplift on an A330-300 single aircraft for both Oman Air as well as KIA.

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Organs shipment

The airport’s cargo terminal handled a “Live Human Organs (LHO)” shipment during the lockdown. Lufthansa Cargo carried the shipment, human blood stem cells and bone marrow to the city on May 1.

A similar package was exported back to the same destination on May 16.