KSRTC Moots Flybus to New Cities
Published: 10th December 2015 05:20 AM | Last Updated: 10th December 2015 05:20 AM | A+A A-
BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will soon extend its Flybus service to cities like Shivamogga, Coimbatore, Puducherry and Madurai, besides adding stops at Erode, Hosur and Salem, to address the needs of passengers.
This comes after a study suggested that better mode of transportation will help attract more passengers to the city as last-mile connectivity and transportation are major factors affecting a passenger’s decision of selecting an airport.
KSRTC, along with Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), hired Lead Cap, a global research, advisory and consulting firm, to conduct a survey to find out means of increasing passenger density and thereby increasing profits.
The study suggested that majority of the passengers select their departure airport based on proximity from their city. In several cases, it was found that Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) was closer to cities located in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as compared to their state airports.
A KSRTC official said, “During the course of the study, it was found that the most preferred mode of transportation among the passengers were taxis... Lack of public transport was a major cause behind passengers opting for Hyderabad and Chennai airports as compared to KIA.”
Multi-axle luxury Volvo coaches will be deployed by KSRTC on these new routes. These buses have ample legroom for passengers and will display live flight timings. It will also have GPS, Wi-Fi, onboard entertainment system, pantry and a chemical toilet.
The study also suggested that focusing on passenger’s convenience to reach cities in close proximity to KIA will provide it an opportunity to attract 5 per cent more passengers from Hyderabad and around 26 per cent passengers from Chennai.
“We are banking on this and extending our Flybus service to new cities. Currently, the Flybus service operates from KIA to Mysuru and Manipal.
The bus plying to Manipal runs via Udupi and Mangaluru and is getting good response,” the official added.