Second airport in Bengaluru? Here is what KIA's CEO said

In the next decade, a total of 92 million passengers are expected to board and deboard at Bengaluru annually

Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport CEO Hari Marar has pitched for a second airport in Karnataka’s capital to cater to the increasing number of flyers to and from the city. He said that in the next decade, a total of 92 million passengers are expected to board and deboard at Bengaluru annually, which demands an additional airport.

Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. (HT Archive)

Speaking at a conference in Bengaluru on Thursday, Marar said, “Currently, the Bengaluru airport is seeing annual footfalls of 40 million. By the year 2032-2033, we are expecting at least 92 million passengers using the airport annually, which is the structural capacity of Kempegowda International Airport. We will need an additional airport after that, and the process of land acquisition should have already started.”

The CEO said that it is important to have foresight on the urban infrastructure. “Acquiring land for an airport in a city like Bengaluru is not an easy job. It is important to focus on better connectivity and mobility with a foresight on upcoming years,” he added.

In November last year, a second terminal was launched in Kempegowda International Airport which is now handling international airlines with a few domestic airlines. The estimated cost of constructing the first phase of terminal 2 is reportedly Rs. 13,000 crores, and it even has a built-up area of roughly 2.5 lakh square meters. Another 4.41 lakh square metres will be added to the terminal during the second phase.

In January, the central government of India sanctioned the deployment of an additional 1,700 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel in Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. Currently, more 5,000 CISF personnel are deployed at the Bengaluru airport.