With no buses, travelling to Kempegowda International Airport was costly affair

BENGALURU: Commuters to and from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) were forced to use only cabs for commuting as bus services were not available until evening on Monday. While availing the bus service from the Central Business District area costs about Rs 300-350 per person, cabs cost a minimum of Rs 600.

Vikalp Kumar, who arrived at the airport on Monday, said, “I would have taken the bus if it was available, but now I have to fork out `750-800 to reach Banashankari.” Most commuters felt the fares were slightly higher than usual. Commuters to and from other towns too were inconvenienced as flybus services were cancelled. From the airport, five flybuses were cancelled — three of them to Mysuru and one each to Tirupati and Madikeri.

In spite of the surge in demand for cabs, sufficient cabs were available for passengers, said a member of the Corporate Communications Team, KIA.

Mindful of the bandh, several passengers had arrived very early at the airport, making it more crowded than usual. Priyadarshi, a passenger, said, “My family and I arrived here at 6.30 am for a flight at 2.30 pm, as we were uncertain if we would get any transport later and did not want to risk missing our flight.” Extra seating arrangements were made for passengers arriving early. The KIA too had put out a notification to arrive four hours prior to the departure time.

Protest at toll booth

A group of drivers of taxis to and from the KIA began a protest in front of the toll booth before the airport on Monday morning. Around 8.30 am, they intended to block the road, but were not allowed to do so by police personnel stationed there. So they stopped a few empty cabs going towards the city.

Serial accident on Airport Rd hits traffic

Bengaluru: Traffic was thrown out of gear for a while on Airport Road near Sadahalli after three vehicles were involved in an accident on Monday.  However, no casualties were reported although passengers heading towards the airport were affected. 

A police officer said the incident occurred around 10.30 am when two taxis and a private car crashed into one other owing to overspeeding.  Meanwhile, one of the taxis rammed into a truck which was parked near the toll gate. Traffic was affected for about half-an-hour and Chikkajala police rushed to the spot and towed away the vehicles to clear traffic within 30 minutes. The traffic was jam extended to more than 2 km. Subramani, an eyewitness, said the private car car driver of drove his vehicle in a reckless manner and lost control of the vehicle before ramming the taxis. Another car was also damaged in the accident.