BENGALURU: Kempegowda International Airport has achieved 88% of its pre-Covid domestic connectivity as well as 53% of its air traffic movements (arrivals and departures). The airport operator of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), released an official statement on Wednesday, saying, “Bengaluru has reconnected 51 domestic destinations, achieving 88% connectivity of the pre-Covid-19 routes.
The Government of India’s Vande Bharat Mission and Air Bubble programmes have enabled Bengaluru airport to connect with 22 international destinations. With the gradual easing of restrictions, air traffic movements have witnessed an encouraging trend, recovering 53% of the previous year’s flight movements, following successive measures to unlock India’s economy.” Bengaluru airport has become the first metro city airport to record positive growth in cargo volumes in September 2020, compared to last year, it added.
“In the first two quarters of this financial year, airport cargo terminals processed 131,603 metric tonnes (MT) freight. The cargo processed in September was 32,449 MT, a growth 0.3%, against same period last year.” The month also witnessed 4.5% growth in international cargo, of which export cargo grew by 7.6%. Meanwhile, domestic cargo is showing a slower recovery and is 5.2% lower than the same period in the previous year, it said.
Perishable cargo has seen a major growth with the airport processing 17,212 MT during this period. Pomegranates, ready-made garments, engineering goods, pharma and medical supplies are among the exported items. The introduction of road feeder service – LOGI Connect – to link cities like Tirupur, Coimbatore, Ambur, Salem, Erode, Hyderabad and Chennai augmented growth, powering KIA’s all-India market share of air cargo from 11% to 14%.
“Before the pandemic, around 60% of domestic and international freight was being carried in belly space of passenger aircraft and the remainder in freighters. With the reduction in passenger flights, several airlines – both domestic and international – converted passenger flights to cargo aircrafts, enabling the availability of a larger cargo capacity.” This helped the growth of cargo ATMs by 139% against the previous year, the release added.