With the resumption of international flights to and from India, the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru (BLR Airport) has been witnessing 25 daily international departures, a significant increase from the earlier 10 per day. The Airport has reinstated more than 90% of routes compared to pre-Covid.
With the gradual increase in international operations, BLR Airport’s route network is expected to further augment with the resumption of routes and additional flights to cater to the demand.
Currently, BLR Airport is connected to 21 international destinations in 17 countries operating through 24 airlines, and the Airport will be adding newer routes later this year to Seattle (American Airlines) and will be strengthening its existing route to San Francisco (Air India) with United Airlines set to launch weekly flights in October, connecting the world’s two biggest tech hubs – Bengaluru and San Francisco.
To address the expected increase in passenger traffic and make the airport experience more seamless, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL)—operator of BLR Airport—has deployed automation-enabled technology at various checkpoints such as terminal entry, and check-in, security check, immigration, and customs. The existing technology such as self-baggage drops, smart security lane with an automated tray retrieval system, along with other contactless technology will further improve the overall airport experience.
“Delivering superior customer experience and consistently improving operational efficiency has become a strategic priority as passenger volumes are expected to grow over the next few months. The timely announcement of the resumption of international flight operations ahead of the busy summer travel season has set a positive tone for the industry. With continuous infrastructure development and technology integrations, BLR Airport is well prepared to handle larger passenger volumes, “said Mr. Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Limited.
International Passengers Air travel recovery is expected to be faster following the resumption of international operations. While passenger traffic recovery in CY 2021 was only 19% (vs pre-Covid CY 2019) due to travel restrictions and cross-border entry, it is expected to grow steadily in the coming months, driven by the strong high-yielding leisure and business travel demand from the city of Bengaluru.
Pre-covid, BLR Airport was connected to 25 international destinations, with an average of 40 international departures each day. Despite the subdued pandemic environment both in 2020 as well as 2021, BLR Airport achieved some significant accomplishments in CY 2021
Air India’s bi-weekly, non-stop Bengaluru-San Francisco flight, becoming the first Airport in South and Central India to have a non-stop connectivity to North America. Japan Airlines’ weekly flights to Tokyo Narita are expected to progressively increase the frequency of flights between BLR-NRT. United Airlines and American Airlines announced flight operations to BLR Airport despite the pandemic and flights are expected to start later this year.
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