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AERO INDIA
>>> ESPOUSING HIGHER GROWTH: BIAL has grown through leaps and bounds over the years.
BIAL’s vision is clear to become the gateway to the south of India, enabling the economic prosperity of this region. Cruising Heights
2/3/2011
5:01 PM
Page 62
2011
There was an upswing in the annual growth of cargo by 31 per cent. What steps made you achieve this growth? 4 Bengaluru International Airport’s two cargo warehouse operators, Air India and SATS and Menzies Aviation with Bobba Group have their state-of-the-art cargo infrastructure and provide excellent storage and processing units for both perishables and nonperishables; they are responsible for the design, construction, financing and operation of a cargo facility of international standards and much of the growth is credited to their high performance standards. Bengaluru being one of the largest exporters of cut flowers and a provider of high-quality floricultural products in the country, it becomes very essential to preserve the product quality during export. Apart from careful handling of the horticultural products being exported, both our cargo terminal operators provide cold storage to ensure that the cold-chain for horticultural products is not broken. Adding to these facilities, BIAL’s efforts to ensure government agencies such as animal and plant quarantine and drug controllers at the cargo warehouses have been institutional for the increase of cargo growth in the recent past. The cargo village at the Bengaluru International Airport is also fully functional, catering to the trade better and subsequently contributing to the growth in growth. From an industry perspective, imports have also grown tremendously due to a high demand in automobile & engineering industry. New freighters like as FedEx, Deccan 360 and Blue Dart’s new routes have also contributed to the increase in cargo output. How committed are you to the expansion of the airport? 4 BIAL felt that the existing building should be extended in such a way as to give the entire complex a new lease of life, effectively producing a new design; stronger architecture, better able to offer the stature to compliment the scale of the site. Designed by architectural firm HOK, along with several leading international architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects & engineering consultants the expanded T1 sports an enhanced and modern design elevation. Between now and 2015, the air traffic at
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Bengaluru International Airport is estimated to increase from the current 10.6 million passengers annually to approximately 17-20 million passengers. In keeping with this rapidly growing passenger traffic to and from Bengaluru, the Terminal 1 (T1) expansion of the Bengaluru International Airport will have enhanced capacity and operational performance. The expansion will have double available floor space of the existing terminal and is scheduled to be completed in 18 months from the commencement of its construction. The enhanced T1 will be spread over an area of approximately 1,34,000 square metres. The architectural concept is based on the idea of a dramatic swooping and curving roof, under which the building resides. The roof is the unifying element for both the new and the existing facilities, bringing both together as one composition. It also forms a dramatic canopy to the main entrance, offering passengers and public a giant covered area, protected from the weather elements. The undulating wave form provides the terminal with greater physical presence. Later this year, the airport will also embark on the plan for the expansion of Terminal 2. How do you intend to increase Bengaluru’s connectivity in the domestic market? 4 The Bengaluru International Airport’s vision is clear to become the gateway to the south of India, enabling the economic prosperity of this region by facilitating the region’s connectivity to the world. While we have been working towards this goal since the Airport Opening Day, the focus of the airport is constantly on operational excellence. Apart from the trunk routes connecting the metro cities, there is a tremendous growth potential for regional connectivity. Bengaluru has the best network, connecting airports in South India and this only keeps growing with addition of new regional airports by the domestic airlines. While the focus across airlines is to increase frequencies on account of growing demand in the domestic sector, BIAL looks to attract domestic airlines providing better regional connectivity using regional jets. For regional connectivity airlines need quick turnaround and operational efficiency and which BIAL can provide with our award-winning IT infrastructure and concepts like AOCC which is industry first. The airport also aims to provide sufficient infrastructure facilities in terms of parking bays to accommodate regional jets that could provide February 2011