Lean season affects Vayu Vajra

Lean season affects Vayu Vajra

Anil Kumar Sastry

BMTC’s special service sees a dip in July earnings

The service between Majestic and airport fetches the highest revenue

BMTC plans to introduce service for linking Bannerghatta Road and the new airport

BANGALORE: July has not been good for Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) Vayu Vajra, BMTC’s Bengaluru International Airport special service, as there were fewer takers for the well-appointed buses.

Reduction in the number of flights being operated from BIA, the lean season of Ashada and the serial blasts during the last week of July are said to be the reasons for the reduced patronage for this service.

The number of flights has come down from 349 on the day of airport opening to around 300 in July.
Domestic passengers

Vayu Vajra’s patrons are domestic passengers, especially those on short-haul routes.

As these now prefer to travel by road or rail because of the distance of BIA from the city, the number of flights has come down resulting in reduced occupancy in Vayu Vajra services, said a source familiar with the industry.

Also, the Hindu calendar month of Ashada had its effect on the travelling public.

With a few functions in family and friends circles, people travelled less this month. The serial blasts of July 25 too had a major impact on the travelling pattern with people dreading to venture out, especially to areas of large public gathering and prime installations.

As a result, the revenue earned by Vayu Vajra services came down from Rs. 2.07 crore in June to around Rs. 1.9 crore in July.

This is despite Vayu Vajra clocking higher effective kilometres at the rate of around 23,147 km a day (nearly 7 lakh km for the entire month) as against around 6 lakh km clocked in June at the rate of 19,950 km a day.

Consequently, the earning per kilometre too came down drastically to Rs. 28 as against Rs. 34.55 in June.

While an average of 6,000 passengers hopped on Vayu Vajras in June, it came down to 5,000 in July.

Despite all these, BMTC is keen on expanding Vayu Vajra route network. In July last week, it introduced a new route – BIAS 11 – between Padmanabhanagar and BIA.

The Corporation is keen on connecting the Bannerghatta Road by introducing another service between BTM Layout and BIA, according to Chief Traffic Manager Dastagir Sharief.

BIAS 9 between Kempe Gowda Bus Station (Majestic) and BIA has been the highest revenue earner in June as well as July.

While the earning was Rs. 45.67 lakh (Rs. 51.68 a km) in June, it was Rs. 34.44 lakh (Rs. 46.03 a km) in July.

Ironically, while planning BIAS, the Corporation had not thought of introducing the services from Majestic and this was introduced after suggestions from the members of the media.
Lowest revenue

BIAS 3 and 4 connecting the new airport at Devanhalli with Jeevanbimanagar and HAL Old Airport had earned the lowest revenue of Rs. 15 lakh (Rs. 16.15 a km) and 17 lakh (Rs. 18.31 a km) respectively in July.