BENGALURU: Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will get seven new routes and two new airlines during its winter schedule, which will commence on Sunday. This will increase the number of its arrival and departing flights to 766 a day, up from the existing 691.
The start of winter 2018 is expected to achieve air traffic movements (ATMs, arriving and departing flights) of 744 per day, which will include 659 domestic and 85 international flights, according to an official statement. “This is expected to progressively reach up to 766 ATMs per day (675 domestic and 91 international),” it said. During the recently concluded summer schedule, BLR Airport recorded an average of 691 daily movements (613 domestic, 78 international).
The five-month winter period, till March 30, 2019, will see the hourly runway capacity increase to 40 movements per hour from the existing 38 movements. “The average international ATMs for winter 2018-19 is expected to grow at 17 per cent over summer 2018, while domestic movements are expected to achieve a growth of 10 per cent. The overall growth forecast for the forthcoming schedule is pegged at 11 per cent.”
Two new airlines will begin operations during the period - Turkish Cargo and Air India Express. While Air India Express will launch a round-trip flight to Singapore - flying four times a week - from October 29, Turkish Cargo will operate two flights a week from October 31 between Istanbul and Bengaluru, one via Colombo and the other via Daman.
The new domestic destinations are Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Udaipur (Spice Jet); Udaipur and Prayagraj (Indigo); Aizawl via Guwahati (Jet Airways); and Kolhapur (Alliance Air). The new international destination will be Phuket in Thailand, with Go Air offering a direct connection to the tourist hub. With this, Bengaluru will now be connected with 82 destinations - 53 domestic and 29 international.
Three airlines - Indigo, Air India and Go Air - will also launch additional flights from Bengaluru to eight existing international destinations. Indigo will operate daily flights to Male, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Kathmandu, while Air India will fly to Bangkok and London, and Go Air will fly to Male.
Javed Malik, Chief Operating Officer of Bangalore International Airport Limited, which runs the airport, said, “Our new services will further bolster the economy of the city and enhance the reputation of BLR Airport as the gateway to a new India.”
The top international airline during this schedule by ATMs will be Indigo, with 10.4 per cent market share of overseas operations, while Air India comes second with 8.3 per cent. Indigo continues to lead in domestic market share at 46.2 per cent market share. Jet Airways, including JetLite, will constitute 13.3 per cent.