The Bengaluru International Airport has witnessed an 18.9% escalation in its passenger traffic year-on-year basis to 16.07 million in the calendar year 2021. The airport operator informed that this upsurge comes on the back of double-digit growth in the domestic passenger volume. The domestic passenger traffic has seen a growth in light of the increased speed of vaccination and ease of travel restrictions imposed by the states due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Current Statistics
The Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) runs the Kempegowda International Airport and had reportedly handled a total of 13.51 million passengers in the calendar year 2020. It is to be noted that the air services were suspended in the country for two months until May 25 because of the initial outbreak of the pandemic. The operator of the private airport also informed that it has been able to recuperate 48% of the passenger traffic of the year 2019 which witnessed a total of 33.65 million passengers handled at the airport.
The recovery of domestic passenger traffic in 2021 can be credited to acceleration in vaccination across the country along with people becoming more positive towards flying back again. A release from BIAL suggests that the Bengaluru airport handled 16.07 million passengers in 2021 listing an 18.9% growth as compared to 13.51 million passengers in 2020. Moreover, with the ease of restrictions in travel, domestic passenger traffic also witnessed a 22% growth in 2021 with the number of passengers handled at the airport increasing to 15.2 million as compared to 12.39 million in the year 2020.
According to the BIAL release, international passenger traffic has seen a major decline because of the travel restrictions imposed after the second wave of the pandemic which was followed by supply-side limitations on seat load factors. The international passenger traffic witnessed a 15.5% drop in the calendar year 2021 to 0.94 million from 1.2 million in 2020. However, BIAL is affirmative about the fact that the air traffic is eventually going to recover but it will depend on multiple factors such as easing of travel restrictions and favourable policies by regulators across the country and the globe.
