KIA crosses record 2 million passenger mark for July

For the first time since its commercial launch in 2007, Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here clocked a record two million passengers for the month of July. A total of 21,17,282 domestic and international passengers contributed to this record monthly footfall.

On an average, the country’s third busiest airport had 68,300 passengers every day during the last month. Statistics accessed from the Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) also showed 81,59,370 passengers had passed through KIA during the quarter April-July 2017.

The first seven months of 2017 saw passenger numbers cross the one-crore mark. The DGCA figure showed 1,28,86,118 commuters boarded/alighted flights at KIA between January and July, marking another record for the airport.

Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) president Hari Marar told Deccan Herald that the monthly passenger numbers had consistently exceeded two million since December 2016. However, the numbers dipped during March and April due to reduced Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) during the runway closure. However, the July figure was a record, he added.

Air Traffic Movements (ATM), which include both flight arrivals and take-offs, also saw an increase to 15,896 in July. This accounted for a daily average of 512 ATMs. Marar clarified that the increase cannot be attributed to the opening of two new Rapid Exit Taxiways (RETs), the effect of which can only be quantified in phases.

Since the last two weeks, the RETs have, however, boosted the runway capacity to handle 38 ATMs per hour, up from 34. This is in sync with KIA’s upgrade of Terminal 1 to cater to 26.5 million annual passengers. Terminal-2 will eventually increase the capacity by another 25 million, in time for the commissioning of the second runway.

Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad were the top three domestic destinations for passengers from KIA in July 2017. While 3.55 lakh passengers flew between Bengaluru and Delhi, 2.97 lakh air commuters boarded/alighted flights linked to Mumbai. The figure for Hyderabad flights stood at 1.62 lakh.