Wants to consolidate passengers from all airports in south India and emulate Singapore in terms of world connectivity
As its 1,400 crore expansion comes to a close,GVK- executed Bangalore International Airport (BIA) is morphing into the southern hub for international passengers flying out of India.The current expansion programme,which is expected to be completed by the end of next year,will see capacityshootupfrom12millionpassengersto 17million,and with certain a minor investment,can be further scaled up to 20 million users,depending on demand.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry's Innovation seminar in the city,BIA Limited's president of airport operations Hari Marar said that the time is opportune for Bangalore to give international airports in the region a serious run for their money.
Citing the example of traveller's from India flying to Japan,he said,"Every day,approximately 70-80 passengers fly to Japan from each of the three large airports in the south Hyderabad,Chennai and Bangalore every day.For this number,no Japanese airline is going to come to these cities.Currently,Singapore Airlines takes them to Singapore and onwards to Japan.Why should we lose the traffic to a foreign carrier"
What makes the proposition even more tempting is the number of passengers from the city flying to Japan,Africa,Australia and South Korea about 1,500 a day."If you look at the entire south,the number goes up to 7,000.We are losing them to other international players (airports and carriers ).What we need is an Indian airline to set up a hub and offer international connections,"Marar said.
Recently,the Union government approved a proposal of Jet Airways in this connection.Jet can bring passenger from across south India to Bangalore and a foreign carrier can fly them out."The economic benefits of hosting such a hub is substantial.Aviation and the larger tourism industry are the largest employers in the world.For every dollar invested,a hub generates $6 for the overall economy,"he said.
WHY BANGALORE
Fundamentally,the biggest strength is the market size.Bangalore has more long-haul traffic (people flying long distances) as compared to Chennai or Hyderabad.
In terms of overall international market size,Chennai is bigger in terms of the sheer number of passengers,but they mostly comprise traders going to places like Malaysia,Singapore and Sri Lanka.Such short routes will not support the development of a hub.
"But Bangalore has the highest number of passengers going to Europe and the Americas,mainly due to theIT and ITeS sectors.The average revenue yield per passenger is higher in Bangalore than any other part of the country.In the last 10 years,Bangalore has grown faster than any other city as far as aviation is concerned,"he said.
Bangalore is the geographic centre of the southern peninsula,which is very important from the point of view of hub development."The average distance to Bangalore from other southern cities is 426 km,which is 100 km less as compared to Hyderabad or Chennai.This saves time and fuel,"Marar said.
When Bangalore airport was being developed between 2005 and 2008,traffic growth forecast was around 17 per cent.But the actual figure was 40 percent year-on-year for three consecutive years.Hence,when the new airport began operations,its capacity was almost fully utilised.
Marar said that completion of the first phase of construction will result in a dramatic fall in the waiting time for people using Bangalore airport.
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