BENGALURU: Even as the State government plans to have a second airport near Bengaluru, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is eying 115 million passengers by refurbishing Terminal 1, expanding Terminal 2 and putting up the proposed Terminal 3.
Rao Munukutla, Executive Director and CEO of Bengaluru Airport City Limited (BACL), a subsidiary of BIAL, said designing of phase two of Terminal 2 of Kempegowda International Airport has started, and they hope to begin work by the year-end.
Munukutla was speaking at a session on 'India’s next innovation powerhouse: Karnataka's blueprint for KWIN City' during Invest Karnataka - Global Investors' Meet on Thursday in Bengaluru.
He said in 2022, T2 was completed and operations started. "At present, we have initiated a $2billion programme. We are expanding T2 and the designing of this Phase 2 expansion is going on. We will start construction by the end of the year."
He also said refurbishment of T1 is going on, and this, along with expansion of T2 can accommodate 80 million passengers annually.
"By the end of this financial year, we will be touching around 42 million passengers. They are growing at 13 per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate. Once we start T3, an additional 35 million passengers can be added, and we will be able to reach 115 million passengers," he said.
Rao said KIA is connected to 75 domestic destinations and 30 international destinations.
"Currently, our international traffic is 15 per cent. We want to increase it to 22-25 per cent, and make KIA South India’s hub for international flights. It requires a lot of airline marketing.
"We are connected to many cities in the US and Europe -- San Francisco, London, Frankfurt and others which will make Bengaluru a Gateway to South India," Munukutla added.
According to him, airports are the economic gateways to cities and KIA has added 5.2 per cent of gross value to the city's development.
Speaking on job opportunities, Munukutla said projects like KWIN and Airport City will help generate income for locals. He pointed out the hospitality sector around Devanahalli, and a need for an additional 7,000 hotel rooms in the region. The current hotels are insufficient to meet demand, and are in the process of constructing 4,000 new rooms.