One year on, BIA to go world class

One year on, BIA to go world class
On Bengaluru


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: EXPANSION OF AIRPORT TO CONTINUE OVERNEXT 15 YEARS thumbs down “We built the airport at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore and now we are spending Rs 6,000 to connect it to the city.

This is how things work in our system.

We lack vision.” Shankar M. Bidari City police Commissioner “BIAL doesn’t understand Indian sentiment.

My daughter was returning from abroad after three years and obviously the whole family went to receive her.

But, even at 3.30 am, there is no place to sit down in the airport. I saw many older people sitting on the footpath outside. Is this an international airport?. Even KSRTC bus stands have more chairs.” “Hyderabad airport is three times bigger than the Bengaluru airport. But I like the design of BIA. It should expand fast to accommodate the growing number of passengers.” Krishna Byre Gowda Congress MLA K.T. Manjappa PWD executive engineer(Rtd) year o Bengaluru International Airport has completed a year and is looking forward to expanding its services in phases over the next several years. R.Jayaprakash caught up with its CEO, Marcel Hungerbuehler, to learn more about where BIA is headed.

on their arrival at the airport.

BIA has completed a year. After the initial hiccups you seem pretty well set. What were your main challenges? From an operations point of view, the first year has been critical for the stabilisation of the airport processes and facilities. The work on developing and modernising airport infrastructure must continue in order to avoid capacity constraints, improve air space efficiency and minimise costs. As the air traveller becomes discerning, it is imperative to ensure that we do not create any inequities in his overall airport experience.
Although the aviation sector is at a crossroads, we need to be undaunted enough to carry on with progressive reforms and policies.

There is a need for innovation and more efficient management of our systems.

After the many complaints about shortcomings at the BIA, you unleashed a mega expansion plan. But thanks to recession, you put it on hold. When are you planning to start the expansion work and are there any changes in the plans? The airport is built on 4,000 acres and what you see today is just phase one of the master plan. The next expansion will include extending the apron from the current 42 aircraft parking stands to 68. Additionally, the current terminal building will be expanded to accommodate the increase in passenger traffic. With the existing infrastructure, the airport can easily handle the passenger traffic for the next couple of years.

The next step after this will be construction of the second terminal and runway — a mirror image of the airport infrastructure that one sees today. From this you will gather that this airport will be a work in progress project for the next 10 to 15 years going through phases of gradual but continuous expansion, the way it was initially envisioned and planned.

Even with the current slowdown, the traffic figures in this region are set to stabilise and grow at a steady pace. Reacting to this growth, we will continue to realise our master plan and expand to accommodate increased traffic in terms of aircraft movement and passengers.

Reaching the airport is still a hassle but certain measures taken by the government have helped to an extent. Are you happy with the pace of projects like the High Speed Rail Link? The concern about the much debated distance to the airport has faded among many passengers, who have given positive testimonials Congratulations Shailaja and Murali. You can collect your prize from our office at HM Towers by providing proper identification.

on their arrival at the airport.

The on ground transport offered by BMTC has been an instant hit with passengers as several people are using and appreciating the service. Even with the existing infrastructure, the actual travel experience of the passengers to the new airport during regular traffic hours, has revealed a commuting time of between 60-90 minutes from anywhere in Bengaluru.

From the centre of the city, MG Road, it can be even less than an hour.

BIAL has inadvertently advocated the use of public transport not only to and from the airport, but also within the city, a trend that was formerly not noticed.

Real estate towards the north of the city, where the airport is located, has seen a boom in the last few years.

The airport has also been an employment generator, both directly as well as indirectly.

It is time we took an alternative view of looking at our available transportation systems.

India’s diversity and breadth mandates that we move away from the current either/or approach to transportation solutions and look at integrating airports with other modes of transportation like railways and roads/highways, enabling seamless transportation to all parts of the country. In Karnataka too, this is the way forward.

What were the highs and lows of the last year? Bengaluru International Airport has come a long way in this one year of operations and I can proudly say that we have reached a high level of efficiency. It was an overnight transition from the old airport to the new one. An airport start-up is always a delicate issue, all the processes have to come together at the same time and everything has to work.

As in the case with all new mega projects, it took some time for the processes to fall in place and all depart ments/systems to work hand in hand. We are very pleased that operations stabilised just two weeks from the day the airport opened.

Today, over 80 per cent of flight departures are on time and within 15 minutes of the scheduled time of departure.

The average wait time for delivery of the first baggage on the arrival belt is just seven minutes for both domestic and international arrivals. By international standards, this is a good record.

We also have a team of very dedicated staff who are working hard to serve pas sengers. It is important that all partners and authorities work together with BIAL.

We are convinced this airport is well on its way to becoming one of the leading airports in operational efficiency in the country. We have stayed true to our focus of providing world class service and are pleased that recent passenger opinion of our performance and service is very positive.

Opening of the airport has not been the only milestone.

We have been able to make significant announcements and developments which are industry firsts in India.

One year down, how is the financial health of the BIA? Revenues from any airport are divided into aeronautical and non-aeronautical. We have just completed a year of operations and are still stabilising. However, the bulk will come from aeronautical revenues, of which UDF forms a significant component. Revenues from parking, advertising, retail, F&B, etc, are considered traditional forms of nonaeronautical revenue streams. However, the concepts of airport cities and aeronautical Special Eco nomic Zones are fast catching on in India and in the coming years will form a major chunk of the airport’s non-aeronautical revenues.

Retail is a key component of the non-aeronautical services offered at the airport and also drives the overall passenger experience. Our expectations from the retail segment are modest given that it is a relatively new concept in India.

However, our concessionaires have meticulously derived their concepts and best efforts are on to ensure we exceed our customer expectations.