The Flybus is not just a convenient passenger service connecting the Airport and Mysore.
The Flybus services, when expanded to other cities, will eventually increase footfalls to the Bangalore Airport by at least 30 per cent, according to a survey by BIAL.
The survey identified 10 cities that provided an opportunity for the airport.
For eight cities among the ten - Madurai, Coimbatore, Thiruppur, Trichy, Erode and Salem in Tamil Nadu and Thirupathi and Ananthpur in Andhra Pradesh - Bangalore Airport was closer than the airports in their states.
The other two cities that were considered for the survey were Visakhapatnam and Guntur.
For instance, according to the survey, the distance between Tirupati and Hyderabad Airport was 478 km whereas Tirupati to Bangalore was only 213 km (a reduction of 215 km if passengers flew out of Bangalore rather than Hyderabad). Erode to Chennai Airport was 330 km whereas Erode to Bangalore was 185 km (reduction of 145 km).
The KSRTC, in the next few months, plans to begin Flybus services from Coimbatore as well.
According to a route map in the survey, Coimbatore to Bangalore, passing through Thiruppur, Erode, Salem, Hosur and Bangalore will mean approximately 1,440 more passengers per day for BIA.
Similarly, Madurai to Bangalore (via Erode, Salem and Hosur) would add 1,517 passengers and Trichy to BIA (via Salem and Hosur) will add 516 passengers. Tirupati to BIA via Kolar will add 340 more passengers per day.
The KSRTC definitely sees profit in the venture and is already looking at the number of buses that will be needed to operate between these locations and BIA in the coming months.
“People assume the airport in their state is closer. But, in reality, Bangalore is closer,” said an official from KSRTC, explaining why Coimbatore is a priority for KSRTC to operate Flybus services.
“Operating services to BIA is definitely profitable. Although right now, we are operating only one bus to Mysore, over the next few months, we will be expanding this to other cities as well, beginning with Mangalore and other cities in other states,” the official explained.