KIA records 17.6% year-on-year growth in FY 2017-18

The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here clocked an all-time record of 26.91 million passenger traffic during the financial year 2017-18, a 17.6% growth over the previous fiscal year.

The KIA also witnessed 197,330 Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) during the year, a growth of 10.8%. Cargo movements saw a growth of 9.1% with a total of 348,403 metric tonnes (MT).

The data, released by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) on Tuesday, also showed that 44 airlines connected Bengaluru to 67 destinations (46 domestic and 21 international) during this period.

The airport witnessed the highest-ever passenger movement on February 19, 2018, with a record 91,339 travellers passing through the airport that day. The highest-ever ATMs in a single day was 664 on March 17, 2018. On March 25, the 150 millionth passenger passed through the KIA. March was the busiest month of the year, with 2,549,523 passengers and 31,996 MT of airfreight throughput.

In On Time Performance (OTP), the KIA saw a growth from 82% to 84%. Hari Marar, Managing Director and CEO, BIAL, said the 2018-19 fiscal year would be "a year of several enhancements in technology and infrastructure, powered by digital transformation."

The KIA averaged 541 ATMs per day. Domestic ATMs grew at 12.1% and international by 2.7%. Domestic and international passengers grew by 19.8% and 6%, respectively. Cargo operations recorded an overall growth of 9.1%, handling 348,403 metric tonnes. International cargo handling increased by 10.2% over the previous year while domestic cargo increased by 7.2%.

In 2017-18, the KIA added six new routes, including four domestic - Vadodara, Jammu, Silchar and Udaipur - and two international, Amsterdam and Bahrain. Two new airlines, DHL Aviation International Cargo and Malindo Air, began operations during the year.

2nd runway next year, Terminal-2 by 2012

Work on the second runway and design approvals for Terminal-2 began in 2017. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2018, with the second runway operational by 2019 and T2 by 2021. US architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), has designed T2, while Turner International will be the PMC for this expansive project.

T2 will be constructed in two phases; the first phase catering to 25 million passengers annually (MPA) and the second phase adding another 20 million MPA. On completion of both phases, the KIA's overall capacity will reach 65 million.