Bengaluru International Airport, popularly known as Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) completed 11 years of its operations. It started the services in May 2008 with Air India’s AI 609 flight landed at the airport.
It witnessed a count of 33.3 million passengers transited through it in 2018-19, which is 23.8% growth compared to the previous year. The authorities estimate passenger count to rise to 65 million per annum by 2024-25. It is also expected to reach 80-90 million in 10 years.
Kempegowda International Airport is known for innovations
Kempegowda International Airport is the first in India that was constructed through public-private-partnership. It is also the first in the country to introduce face recognition technology for boarding. Besides, the airport has around 16 fully automated self-bag drop machines installed in 2018, making it the first airport to utilize self-bag dropping system on a large scale in the country.
Also Read: Kempegowda International Airport to Roll Out Paperless Biometric Self-Boarding by Q3 2019
As a means to reduce the congestion in the main terminal, the airport recently opened separate terminal for the crew members of the airlines. The airport is opening a second runway in October that is capable of airplane landing even in zero visibility. The category III-B Instrument Landing System (ILS) utilized in the second runway will ensure that no flight is delayed due to fog. There are also measures adopted to improve the connectivity for the airport to the city.
Currently, KIA is under an expansion phase, where it is constructing Terminal 2, which is expected to complete by 2021. The expansion project valued at INR 13,000 crores will have the capacity to manage 25 million passengers per annum.
Spread over 4,000 acres in Devanahalli, the 11-year-old Bengaluru International Airport is the third busiest airport in India, after Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, and Chhatrapati Sivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai.
Also Read: Bangalore International Airport Adds an Interim Terminal Alongside the Construction of Terminal 2
