Bengaluru airport conducts emergency preparedness exercise

Bengaluru: Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Thursday conducted an emergency preparedness exercise ‘Challenger 2026’, involving over 100 stakeholder agencies and around 3,000 participants.

The bi-annual drill, carried out in accordance with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requirements and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines, simulated a complex emergency scenario to test the airport’s crisis response systems and inter-agency coordination.

According to Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the airport operator, the exercise assessed emergency alert activation, firefighting and rescue operations, triage management, traffic control, and the creation of green corridors for rapid transfer of casualties to hospitals. Communication protocols and coordination timelines among participating agencies were also evaluated.

The drill involved airlines, airport stakeholders, district and state disaster management authorities, hospital staff, military and paramilitary agencies, and civil society organisations.

A statement by BIAL stated that a key aspect of this year’s exercise was that it was conducted while regular airport operations continued on the second runway.

 Additionally, AI-enabled response support tools aimed at helping emergency teams access critical response protocols, and a real-time incident reporting and tracking platform designed to improve situational awareness during emergencies were also tested this year.

The exercise also included helicopter-based casualty evacuation by the Indian Air Force to a private hospital facility. The Indian Red Cross Society and the State Disaster Response Force also participated in the drill for the first time.

“As airport ecosystems become larger and more complex, emergency preparedness must continuously evolve. It demands constant coordination, agility, and the ability to respond decisively under diverse conditions.

Challenger 2026 was designed to rigorously assess these capabilities at scale while airport operations continued in parallel,” said Hari Marar, MD and CEO, BIAL.