Bengaluru airport records 16.3 million passengers this financial year; highest during Deepavali

Traffic revival continued across both the domestic and international sectors owing to the holiday and festive season. On October 21, which marked the beginning of the festive season, 94,330 passengers travelled through the Kempegowda International Airport. However, during the week of Deepavali, the airport witnessed over 5.2 lakh domestic passenger movements in a span of six days, and the international passenger traffic was recorded at around 70,000.

According to the data shared by the KIA, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi, and Pune were the top domestic routes contributing 44 per cent of domestic traffic, while Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Frankfurt, and Male were the top international routes contributing 54 per cent of international traffic.

The data also suggested that, additionally, an increase in the number of flights to domestic destinations has led to enhanced connectivity to Tier II/III cities. As a result, the share of non-metro traffic at the Bengaluru Airport increased to 58 per cent.

“The aviation market witnessed robust demand in the last six months, and this has impacted the passenger volumes positively. Air travel had taken a significant hit due to the pandemic, but it is recovering now, and we have observed growth in recent months. We are very optimistic that this upward trend will continue over the next few quarters. BLR Airport is reporting good numbers due to its connectivity and being a preferred transfer hub. With the opening of Terminal 2, we will further consolidate our position as the gateway to South India,” said Satyaki Raghunath, chief strategy and development officer, Bangalore International Airport Limited.