KIA served 26.91 million passenger in 2017-18

The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) served 26.91 million passengers in the recently concluded financial year.

At the end of March 2018, the airport recorded a passenger growth of 17.6% over the previous fiscal year. The Air Traffic Movements (ATM) increased by 10.8% in the period, said a release from the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), adding that the airport witnessed 1,97,330 ATMs.

“The highest ever passenger movement was witnessed on February 19, 2018 with a record 91,339 travellers passing through the airport on a single day. The highest ever ATMs in a single day was 664 on March 17, 2018. March was the busiest month of the year, with the airport handling 25,49,523 passengers,” the release said.

The financial year also saw Bengaluru’s cargo operations scaling new heights, with an overall growth of 9.1% and handling 3,48,403 metric tonnes. The international cargo handing increased by 10.2% over the previous year while domestic cargo increased by 7.2 %.

The release further stated that work on Terminal 2 is scheduled to begin in mid-2018, and that the second runway will be operational by 2019 and Terminal 2 by 2021.

The BIAL has a plan to take up the Terminal 2 project in two phases with the first phase catering to 25 million passengers annually while the second phase will increase the capacity by 20 million passengers.