BIAL'S RUNWAY TO TOMORROW

BENGALURU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS ENTERING A MAJOR EXPANSION PHASE. WITH PASSENGER TRAFFIC EXPECTED TO CROSS 48 MILLION THIS YEAR, CAN IT OVERTAKE MUMBAI AND DELHI?

- BY KARISHMA ASOODANI

WHEN BENGALURU'S KEMPEGOWDA International Airport opened in 2008, its ambition was modest-to become the gateway to southern India for air travellers.

Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) has raised that bar a few notches: it is now aspiring to become a global transit hub.

Bold bets on infrastructure, entailing as much as ₹20,000 crore capital expenditure, are part of a plan drawn up by BIAL to achieve the ambition, which Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Hari Marar says will ensure the airport stays in step with Bengaluru's own rapid growth.

"Aviation oils the engine of the economy," Marar tells BT.

Investment in capacity expansion is essential because, without it, Bengaluru's connectivity, especially important for IT and outsourcing industries, to which it is an important home, risks being impaired, he says.

Fairfax India Holdings Corp. (the parent company of majority private promoters) is playing a key role in the journey. Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Ltd owns 43.64% and FIH Mauritius Investments Ltd 30.36% of BIAL. Karnataka State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd and Airports Authority of India hold 13% each.

The rapid pace of passenger traffic growth has fueled BIAL's ambition to make the airport a hub for passengers from India and beyond to destinations further afield.