Huge crowds at Bengaluru airport at 3am ahead of Diwali. Watch

Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport saw a horde of people standing in queues with their luggage at 3am to check in and get on their flights ahead of the festive season of Diwali.

Updated on: Oct 21, 2022, 13:17:52 IST

By Yamini C S

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It looked like half of Bengaluru was at the airport to cash in on the long weekend ahead of prominent Hindu festival Diwali and make their getaway plans a reality, while some looked to go back to their native places for the festival.

The long weekend helped by Diwali prompted many to throw in their luggage and hop on flights for their long impending vacations. (Screengrab of Twitter video by @vibinbaburajan)

Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport saw huge crowds at 3am in the morning, a video on Twitter showed, indicating that the festive travel frenzy is back.

"BLR airport at 3am. Diwali is here!" a Twitter user called Vibin Baburajan, the co-founder of the All India Start-ups Community posted, along with the video. Take a look here.

“Also, a decade ago around 50 million Indians were taking flights each year. Now 3x as many Indians are flying each year (CAGR of 12%),” he added.

Several similar videos ended up on the internet, showing a horde of packed bags, luggage and throngs of people waiting in queues to board their flights.

READ | Karnataka: 1500 special buses announced in the state for upcoming Deepavali

“It was a crazy morning. Still can't believe I made it for my flight. #diwali #BLRAirport,” a reply said, sharing another video.

While one reply said there's a similar crowd at Mumbai airport, another suggested the crowd is for cheap flights.

“Sasti flight ki bheed. Regular timings vali mei to loot maachi hei,” he said, meaning the flights with regular (daytime) timings are expensive.

READ | Bengaluru-Hubballi bus fares give tough competition to flights ahead of Diwali

Travel options other than flights also gave a tough fight, with private bus fares from Bengaluru to Hubbali being priced at ₹5000, only around ₹2000 short on flight rates, which prompted residents to urge officials to announce the notification of special trains and buses for the festive season's rush.

Although the Karnataka government announced 1,500 special buses during Diwali, trains are yet to be notified.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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