Bengaluru Airport: All set to be seamlessly connected

Facilitating shipment of essential commodities across India and the world, Bengaluru (BLR) Airport continued to operate round-theclock during the lockdown and post the phased lifting of the lockdown. Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) talks about the journey of the airport in the middle of the pandemic.

included 315 MT of mango exports to key destinations such as Doha, London, Muscat, Singapore and Sydney. In addition, BIAL supported the local manpower movement of our partners by obtaining movement passes from the Police Department.

After a brief lull in cargo operations due to the lockdown, positive signs of demand emerged in May 2020. Cargo volumes have showed a week-on-week growth in May, as India emerged from the lockdown, in stages. BIAL has been able to gain approximately 44 per cent of the previous year’s tonnage during the same month, including 60 per cent of international volumes and 20 per cent of domestic volumes. The key markets served during this period were the Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America.

BLR Airport’s cargo market share in terms of tonnage in India improved to 17 per cent up from 11 per cent for the period April-May 2020 due to agility, efficiency, latest technology, processes and BIAL’s solution-driven approach.

Apart from consignments of perishables and pharma, BLR Airport Cargo Terminals handled 1.5 million units of COVID-19-related cargo in March and April 2020. A brief summary is provided in the table below:

QTY (units) of Tirupur, Coimbatore, Ambur, Salem, Erode, Hyderabad and Chennai to BLR Airport, establishing BLR Airport as South India’s preferred cargo gateway. The airport aims to be a hub for cargo traffic and shippers aspiring to reach this fast-growing region.

BLR Airport is the first airport in India to have implemented a Variable Tariff Plan (VTP). Over the years, BIAL has worked with various domestic carriers to enable the setup of their primary or secondary hub at BLR Airport, which, in turn, supports the ‘transit-hub’ model. With the development of a D-D transshipment facility at BLR Airport, BIAL helps airlines to perform ‘hub-andspoke’ operations at BLR Airport.

In addition to existing operations, BIAL has opened a Public Bonded Warehouse within the Cargo facility. This is a first-of-its-kind ‘on-Airport Public Bonded Wearhouse’ in India, operational 24x7. This facility is expected to support the re-export of goods, long-term storage of bonded cargo, assist partial clearances, allow value added services by the supply chain, etc. from the Airport campus.

Additionally, to provide a dedicated handling facility for express courier shipments, the country’s first dedicated Express Courier Terminal is under construction, and scheduled to be operational by the end of 2020. This terminal will house some of the world’s best-known courier players such as DHL Express, UPS, EICI and FedEx at a dedicated facility, thereby offering additional benefits to the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region and our customers.

To facilitate the needs of the trucking community at BLR Airport, BIAL is developing India’s first on-airport, dedicated truck management facility. This facility will provide various features like fueling, restaurant, medical, rest areas, etc.

Cargo Volume

S.

Airport

88305

127052

-30.5

186025

401456

-53.7