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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.
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.
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.
