INDIA. Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport welcomed 31.91 million passengers during Financial Year 2022-23 (April to March), a leap of +96% year-on-year. The recovery was largely led by domestic traffic, which grew +85% to 28.12 million passengers. International traffic climbed by +245% to 3.78 million.
The highest daily figure for traffic came on Sunday, 26 February 2023, with 114,299 passengers. The airport now serves over 100 destinations, of which 25 are international.
The largest carrier Indigo has a 57% share of traffic at the airport while Air India, Vistara and Air Asia – all part of the TATA Group together hold 27%. Akasa Air, the newest airline in India, which was launched eight months ago, has a 10% share of domestic traffic with 25 daily departures to nine key cities in the country.
During the year, Qantas commenced four weekly direct flights to Sydney, while Air-India reinstated its three weekly, non-stop flights to San Francisco, becoming the only airport in Central and South India to have direct connectivity to North America and Australia. Cathay Pacific, Jazeera and Malindo Air began flights to Hong Kong, Kuwait and Kuala Lumpur respectively. Emirates also launched A380 operations on one of its daily services to Dubai.
Transit traffic accounted for 15.3% of departing passengers in the year. The airport’s status as transit hub is aided by its connection to over 20 cities within a 75-minute flying distance with 100+ daily flights.
BIAL Chief Strategy and Development Officer Satyaki Raghunath said, “From a passenger perspective, the highlights of the year have been Akasa’s growth story, the launch of Qantas’ service to Sydney and the launch of daily Airbus A380 services to Dubai by Emirates. With the recent launch of Terminal 2 (T2), we are better equipped than ever before to maintain our standing as the preferred gateway to South and Central India. Our commitment to enhancing operations remains unwavering as we continue to prioritise the satisfaction and convenience of our passengers.”
In November 2022, BIAL announced that Dufry had won a 15-year contract to manage the duty free business at the airport. HMSHost is the major F&B concessionaire while long-term partner JCDecaux recently captured a 12-year contract for airport advertising. ✈
