About Kempegowda International Airport

Bangalore Airport Location
Bangalore Airport Location

Kempegowda International Airport (IATA: BLR, ICAO: VOBL) (commonly known as  Bangalore Airport) is an international airport serving the Indian city of Bangalore. It is located at Devanahalli about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the Bangalore City Railway Station and covers 4,700 acres (1,900 ha).

In 2008, it replaced the old HAL airport as the main commercial airport serving Bangalore. The airport earlier known as Bangalore International Airport was renamed after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bangalore in 2013. For the Fiscal year 2014-15, it is the third busiest airport in the country in overall passenger traffic after Delhi and Mumbai.

As on 2014-15, about 10 domestic airlines and 23 international airlines connect to the airport. The airport serves as the main hub for AirAsia India, Air Pegasus and as a secondary hub for SpiceJet and Jet Airways. It also serves as focus city for Air India and IndiGo. It was also the primary hub for the now defunct Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines.

In 2014-15, the airport handled about 15.24 million passengers and 400 air traffic movements (ATM) per day. The airport is expected to handle 20 million passengers in 2020 and about 55 million passengers annually by 2029-30.
Construction

The airport project started as a public-private joint venture between Germany's Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, Government of Karnataka and Airports Authority of India (AAI). Construction began in July 2005, after a decade long postponement. The new airport was originally planned to accommodate 6.5 million passengers a year, but this was later redesigned to handle 12 million passengers per year. The redesign resulted in an increase in the size of the terminal, number of aircraft stands, new taxiway layouts and supporting infrastructure.

The airport was to be inaugurated on 30 March 2008, but due to delays in air traffic control (ATC) services, it was finally inaugurated on 24 May 2008. A Jet Airways flight from Mumbai marked the start of commercial operations. Later, an Air India flight to Singapore became the first commercial flight to take-off from the airport. The erstwhile HAL airport located in downtown Bangalore was closed to commercial aviation.

The airport was later expanded and inaugurated in December 2014 to provide for handling more passengers and aircraft. Facilities such as a new VIP terminal and new architectural elements were also added to improve the aesthetic look of the terminal. On 22 August 2014, the airport received environmental clearance to begin work on stage II expansion. This will include the construction of a new terminal along with a second runway, taxiways, aprons, aircraft parking and other aviation facilities and structures.

Renaming

On 27 February 2009, the Government of Karnataka forwarded the proposal to the central government to rename the airport after the city's founder, Kempe Gowda I. In 2011, the state government sent another proposal to the central government to name the airport after Kempegowda. In 2012, the central government accepted the state government's proposal to name the airport after Kempegowda. On 18 July 2013, the Union Cabinet formally approved the name change. Finally, the airport was officially renamed on 14 December 2013. Along with the renaming, new terminal 1A was inaugurated on the same occasion.

Ownership

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is a Public limited company under the Companies Act formed to build, own and operate the airport. BIAL has been given rights by the Government of India to develop, design, finance, operate and manage the airport for 30 years from the date of commencement of commercial flight operations. It has an option to extend the same for an additional 30 years. Private promoters GVK (43%), Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (26%) and Unique Zurich (5%) hold 74% stake in BIAL while government entities Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (13%) and Airport Authority of India (13%) hold the remaining 26% stake in the airport. Further, a 26% of GVK-KIA's equity is owned by AAI and KSIIDC and 74% by private promoters of which GVK acquired 43% in January 2012.




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