How is Bengaluru International Airport faring as it approaches its first anniversary? Joe Bates reports.
Bengaluru International Airport is the latest in what seems like a conveyor-belt of new airports to be built across the Asia-Pacific region over the past 10 to 12 years.
The gateway opened on May 24, 2008 – almost two months to the day after India’s other new greenfield gateway, Hyderabad–Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
Like all the others it is a state-of-the-art facility that has been built to replace an existing airport that was incapable of meeting future demand.
Indeed, the southern Indian city was desperate for the new $620 million facility to open as its predecessor handled around 7.5 million passengers in both 2006 and 2007, more than double its design capacity of 3.6mppa.
Bangalore’s status as India’s third biggest city and fastest growing metropolis in the world’s biggest democracy is the reason behind the huge surge in demand for air travel.
The gateway boasts a single 4,000m runway and a 70,000sqm terminal designed to handle up to 12mppa, which has already earned applause from both passengers and airlines because of its host of user-friendly facilities.
With future expansion, the airport – already one of the most operationally efficient in India based on its ability to accommodate 30 aircraft movements per hour – could handle up to 50 million passengers yearly.
New Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) CEO, Marcel Hungerbuehler, certainly has no doubt that the airport offers the levels of service that its predecessor – now privately operated by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and exclusively used to test and develop aircraft for the Indian military – could only dream about.
“Our aim was to provide a world class facility with a focus on world class service, and we believe that we’ve delivered, as recent passenger feedback on the airport’s performance and service levels has been nothing but positive,” enthuses Hungerbuehler.
“We have come a long way in our opening nine months of operations and have reached a high level of efficiency. It was an overnight transition from the old airport to the new one. As in the case with all new mega projects, it took some time for the processes to fall in place and all departments/systems to work hand in hand. It was, however, rather smooth when compared to other such airport openings around the world.”
He cites the airport’s “remarkably high punctuality rate” (which saw 77% of departing flights take-off on time during December), as a prime example of the gateway’s operational efficiency when benchmarked against international standards.
BIAL is also particularly proud of its recently opened Cargo Village, which it claims is the first of its kind in India.
Spread over 11 acres with adequate provision for future expansion, the facility – located close to the cargo terminals – is expected to strengthen Bangalore’s position as a trade and commercial hub while ensuring faster clearances of import and export consignments handled at the airport.
There are some negatives, of course, and the current global economic downturn means that passenger traffic at Bengaluru International Airport is expected to drop by 3.6% this year.
A total of 9.2 million passengers passed through Bangalore in 2008 – 3.3 million at the old Bangalore International Airport and 5.9 million during seven full months of operations at Bengaluru. But with the recession beginning to bite in India, BIAL has announced that it expects to handle 8.9 million this calendar year.
Hungerbuehler, however is certain that traffic will bounce back in 2011/2012 and is in no doubt that the decision to build a gateway initially capable of handling up to 12mppa will prove to be the right one.
Says Hungerbuehler: “These are tough times, but air traffic growth at airports across the country has slowed down and Bangalore simply reflects this trend. Even with the current slowdown, the traffic figures in this region are set to stabilise and grow at a steady pace. When the upturn happens we will realise our master plan and expand to accommodate increased traffic in terms of aircraft movements and passengers.”
November proved to be the worst month for Bengaluru, with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) reporting a 20% decline in passengers compared to the number handled at the old airport during the corresponding period in 2007. A 26.5% drop in domestic traffic was the primary reason for the slump.
But it was not all doom and gloom – Bangalore’s growing reputation as a global economic hub meant that in marked contrast to the domestic market, international passenger numbers soared by 14% during the same month.
Hungerbuehler points out that in recent months five airlines have launched new international services from Bangalore: Kingfisher Airways, Dragon Air, Tiger Airways, Oman Air and Air Mauritius.
In addition, existing carriers have launched a handful of new routes that include Indian Airlines’ new service to Abu Dhabi.
“Bangalore is increasingly being viewed as a preferred destination and connections have been significantly improved with the opening of the new airport,” states Hungerbuehler. “The new international flights have been complemented by the launch of new non-stop domestic services that have enhanced convenience of travellers.”
He is also delighted to announce that the critics who cast doubt about the airport’s location, due to its 40-kilometre distance from downtown Bangalore, appear to have gone away.
“The connectivity between the airport and the city was another large debate before we opened. However, we silenced this criticism almost instantly,” he notes. “It is a fact that you can reach the airport from the centre of the city in 45 to 60 minutes. Passengers have even written to us applauding the comfort and convenience of the road travel options available.”
With regard to future plans, when Bengaluru International Airport opened its management team thought that it would only be two or three years before they would have to consider upgrading its facilities to keep pace with demand. Is this still the case?
“The industry slowdown probably means that we won’t need the new facilities as soon as we thought, but expansion some time in the not too distant future is inevitable,” comments Hungerbuehler.
“The land at our disposal allows us to develop the airport up to a capacity of approximately 45 to 50 million passengers a year. We have also made provisions for commercial real estate developments such as office parks, retail, entertainment and hospitality facilities within the airport’s boundary as we look to develop our own airport city.”
BIAL envisages that its airport city will stretch a distance of 2.5 kilometres alongside the main access road to the terminal building. In addition, land has been reserved for a future rail link to downtown Bangalore.
“We want our airport city to be a flourishing destination in its own right with people going there to relax, do business and shop as well as possibly catch a flight. It will create thousands of job opportunities and it will strengthen and foster the economic growth of the city and the state,” he notes.
Hungerbuehler says that Bengaluru’s airport city will feature hotels, destination retail, serviced apartments, office parks, software campuses and public parks that all add up to a “a truly global enclave”.
The airport’s huge 4,000-acre site, located four kilometres south of the town of Devanahalli, certainly means that it has the space to grow when the time is right.
The fact that three private investors hold a 74% stake in BIAL – Siemens Projects Ventures (40%), Larsen & Toubro (17%) and Unique Zurich Airport (17%) – also ensures that it is in a better position than most Indian airports when it comes to raising capital to fund the projects.
The State holds the remaining 26% interest in BIAL, equally split between AAI and the Karnataka State Investment and Industrial Development Corporation.
Hungerbuehler’s absolute faith in the fact that demand will return is based entirely on the business appeal of Bangalore and its growing reputation as a trade and commercial hub. Indeed, massive development in the hi-tech and IT sectors in particular has fuelled the city’s growth earned it the sobriquet of ‘India’s Silicon Valley’.
“The international community, both business and leisure, still finds Bangalore an important and attractive Indian destination,” says Hungerbuehler. “Bangalore’s business strength presents an attractive passenger profile for airlines. Furthermore, we have a very well functioning airport that offers enough capacity and slots, a very good service at a competitive rate, excellent transfer opportunities and facilities and domestic as well international connections.
“The city has the third highest domestic air traffic in the country after Mumbai and Delhi, which makes us the highest in the south. No national airline network can be complete in India without including Bangalore.
“Aside from this, the city is the country’s IT and BT hub, has a high per capita income, higher percentage of high yield business class traffic, and is increasingly a MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) destination due to its year-round good weather. Geographically, Bangalore is at the centre of the southern peninsula and this makes it a good domestic hub.”
Can Indian aviation learn from the BIAL business model and repeat it elsewhere in the future? “The uphill task for other such PPP projects has certainly been eased due to all the ground work done by BIAL,” muses Hungerbuehler.
“We are committed to establishing the new Bengaluru International Airport as India’s leading airport in terms of quality and efficiency and set a benchmark for the future commercial development of Indian airports.”
There is no denying that BIAL has a plan for the gateway, and with Bangalore clearly better equipped than most Indian cities to ride out the current economic storm, its airport city may begin to take shape sooner rather than later.
ASIA-PACIFIC AIRPORTS//JANUARY-MARCH 2009
