KIA RECORDS GROWTH IN FY 2017-18

The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at Bengaluru clocked an all-time record of traffic of 26.91 million passengers during the financial year 2017-18, a 17.6 per

cent growth over the previous fiscal year. The KIA also witnessed 197,330 Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) during the year, a growth of 10.8 per cent. Cargo movements saw a growth of 9.1 per cent with a total of 348,403 metric tonnes being airlifted. The data, released by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) also showed that during this period, 44 airlines connected Bengaluru to 67 destinations, 46 domestic and 21 international. The airport witnessed the highest-ever passenger movement on February 19, 2018, with a record 91,339 travellers passing through the airport that day.

Work on the second runway and design approvals for Terminal-2 began in 2017. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid2018, with the second runway operational by 2019 and T2 by 2021. US architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), has designed T2, while Turner International will be the PMC for this expansive project. T2 will be constructed in two phases; the first phase catering to 25 million passengers annually (MPA) and the second phase adding another 20 million MPA. On completion of both phases, the KIA’s overall capacity will reach 65 million.