India Post releases special cover to mark 18 years of Kempegowda International Airport

Bengaluru: India Post on Tuesday released a Permanent Pictorial Cancellation (PPC), along with a Special Cover and Picture Postcards, to mark 18 years of operations of Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).

The commemorative postal items were unveiled in collaboration with Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the airport operator, and are intended to recognise the airport’s role in connecting Bengaluru with destinations across India and abroad.

The PPC features an image of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the city's founder, alongside the airport, symbolising the link between Bengaluru’s heritage and its modern identity. The Special Cover and Picture Postcards have also been designed around the same theme.

The PPC will be available to the public at the airport post office. A PPC is a long-term postmark issued by India Post to commemorate places of cultural, historical or tourist significance.

The Special Cover and Picture Postcards will be available at the Philatelic Bureau at Bengaluru GPO and other philatelic bureaus across Karnataka.

Airport expansion plans

The Bengaluru airport is in the crucial stage of transitioning from a middling sized airport to a global aviation hub, said Hari Marar, MD and CEO of BIAL. The airport began operations in 2008 as India’s first greenfield airport developed through a public-private partnership.

"As far as the future of the airport is concerned, we’re making core aviation infrastructure investment, in the next four years, we’re investing close to Rs 18,000 crore in building the phase 2 of terminal 2, along with all the airside infrastructure that is required to support this world," he told DH. Work on the phase 2 of the T2 is expected to begin in the next 3-4 months, and the project is expected to be completed by 2029.

"Our plan is to convert this airport into a destination… we’re building business parks, supported by social infrastructure such as concert arena, retail, dining, entertainment and a multitude of hotels,” he added.