Kempegowda International Airport

Kempegowda International Airport (IATA: BLR, ICAO: VOBL) is an international airport serving Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Spread over 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi), it is located about 35 km (22 mi) north of the city near the suburb of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public–private consortium. The airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to the increasingly congested HAL Airport, the original commercial airport serving the city. It is named after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bengaluru. Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka's first fully solar powered airport, developed by CleanMax Solar.
The airport is the 3rd busiest airport in India, behind the airports in Delhi and Mumbai. It is the 25th busiest airport in Asia and the 56th busiest airport in the world. In CY2024, the airport handled over 40.73 million passengers and 496,227 tonnes (546,997 short tons) of cargo. The airport offers connecting flights to all six inhabited continents, and direct flights to five.
The airport has two passenger terminals that handle both domestic and international operations, and two runways, the second of which was commissioned on 6 December 2019. The second terminal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11 November 2022. There is also a cargo village with three cargo terminals.
The airport is as a hub for Air India, Alliance Air, DHL Aviation, FedEx Express, and Star Air, as well as an operating base for Air India Express, Akasa Air, and IndiGo.
The original airport serving Bengaluru was HAL Airport, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the city centre. It was the primary airport serving Bengaluru city until 2008. Originally established in 1942 for military and defence purposes, HAL began domestic operations for the first time in the late 1970s. The unexpected popularity of newly offered domestic flights encouraged rapid expansion of the airport. In the late 1990s, the first international services begun with Air India flights to Singapore. In 2000, the first foreign carrier, Royal Nepal Airlines, commenced operations with flights to Kathmandu, followed by Lufthansa's A340 service a year later to Germany. Several other major international carriers such as British Airways and Air France started serving the old airport by 2005.
An expansion of the airport's international terminal was impossible as there was no room for expansion and the airport apron could only park six aircraft. In March 1991, former Chairman of the National Airports Authority of India (NAAI) S. Ramanathan convened a panel to select the site for a new airport. The panel decided on Devanahalli, a village about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Bengaluru. The State Government made a proposal to build the airport with private assistance, which the Union Government approved in 1994. In 1995, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Government of Karnataka decided to call for international consortia to own, build and operate the new Greenfield airport.
In December 1995, a consortium made up of the Tata Group, Raytheon and Singapore Changi Airport signed a memorandum of understanding with the State Government regarding participation in the project. In June 1998, however, the consortium announced it was pulling out of the project due to delays in government approval. These included disputes over the location of the new airport and the fate of HAL Airport.
In May 1999, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (KSIIDC) signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the project. It would be a public–private partnership, with AAI and KSIIDC holding a 26% share and private companies holding the remaining 74%. In January 2001, the State Government created the company Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) as a special purpose entity and began searching for partners. By November, the project had attracted Zürich Airport, Siemens Project Ventures and Larsen & Toubro. Construction was expected to begin in October 2002; however, governmental delays persisted. The union cabinet approved the project in February 2000. The concession agreement between the State Government, the Union Government and BIAL was signed in July 2004, and required the closure of HAL Airport.
It took nearly a decade from the initial stages of land allocation and acquisition to the signing of shareholder agreements in 2002 and the start of construction.
When the project was first initiated, BIAL had anticipated traffic of approximately 5 million passengers in the first year of operations in 2008, however the figure was already reached in the airport's first year of operation. It took more than nine months to redesign the project and gain the necessary approvals. By the time the approvals for reworked project were sanctioned, construction was half completed. The airport was expected to be operational by the initially proposed date of completion despite the challenges.
The revised increase in capacity was constructed to cater to 11 million passengers per annum, up from the previous estimation of 5 million per annum. BIAL's modified plan was to build a terminal with eight passengers boarding bridges, one double arm aerobridge, nine remote bus gates and a 4,000 metre long runway featuring efficient taxiways. BIAL also planned to build an apron with 42 Code-C aircraft stands (with eight contact stands) as well as an air and land-side road system. The estimated cost for the entire project was ₹1,930 crore (approximately US$430 million).
Construction commenced on 2 July 2005, and was completed in 32 months. BIAL set the launch date for 30 March 2008. However, due to delays in establishing air traffic control services at the airport, the launch date was pushed to 11 May and further to 24 May 2008.
Public criticism arose with the opening of the new airport, mainly due to the closure of HAL Airport. In March 2008, AAI employees initiated a massive strike against the closure of HAL Airport in Bengaluru and Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, fearing they would lose their jobs. The Bangalore City Connect Foundation, a group of citizens and businessmen, staged a rally in mid-May, claiming the new airport was too small for the latest demand projections. On 23 May, a hearing was held at the Karnataka High Court over poor connectivity between the city and the airport. Ultimately, the State Government decided to go ahead with inaugurating the new airport and closing HAL Airport.
The first commercial flight, Air India Flight 609 (AI609) from Mumbai, was allowed to land at 10:40PM on 23 May, the day before the official inauguration, as it would be continuing to Singapore shortly after midnight. The airport became the third Greenfield airport to open under a public–private partnership (PPP) model in India, after Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad and Cochin International Airport in Kochi.
The original name of the airport was "Bengaluru International Airport". In February 2009, the State Government sent a proposal to the Union Government to rename the airport after the founder of the city, Kempe Gowda I. When no action was taken, the State Government passed a resolution for the name change in December 2011. The Union Government accepted the proposal in 2012 and formally approved it in July 2013. The airport was officially renamed "Kempegowda International Airport" on 14 December 2013 alongside the inauguration of the expanded terminal building.
Kingfisher Airlines used the airport as a hub, and was one of the largest airlines at the airport. Following its collapse in October 2012, other airlines stepped in to fill the gap in domestic connectivity through the addition of flights. Air Pegasus and AirAsia India started using the airport as a hub from 2014.
The first phase of expansion was launched in June 2011 and was finished in December 2013. The ₹1,500 crore (US$180 million) project doubled the size of the passenger terminal to 150,556 square metres (1,620,570 sq ft). It included the construction of additional check-in, immigration, security and baggage reclaim facilities. One domestic gate and three international gates were added to increase capacity. A large, sweeping roof was built to connect the original building with the expansion. The expanded terminal, dubbed "Terminal 1A", raised the capacity of the airport to 25 million passengers per annum.
In October 2019, Ethiopian Airlines began flights to Addis Ababa with Boeing 737 MAXs, marking the first nonstop connection between Bengaluru and Africa. In January 2021, Air India began flights to San Francisco with Boeing 777s, marking the first nonstop connection between Bengaluru and North America. In September 2022, Qantas began flights to Sydney with Airbus A330s, marking the first nonstop connection between Bengaluru and Oceania. The following month, Emirates began serving the airport with its Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, with daily flights to Dubai, marking the airport's first A380 service.
The now-completed second phase of expansion encompassed the construction of a second runway and a second passenger terminal in two phases. Since completion, Kempegowda International Airport has been able to handle 55-60 million passengers per year. The approximately ₹4,000 crore (US$470 million) project received clearance from India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in September 2014.
The airport is owned and operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public limited company. The Government of India has granted BIAL the rights to operate the airport for 30 years, with the option to continue for an additional 30 years. The company is a public–private consortium. Indian conglomerate GVK Group initially owned 43% of the shares of Bengaluru Airport. In 2016, GVK decided to divest 33% of its shares in BIAL to Fairfax Financial for ₹2,149 crore (US$250 million), with GVK closing the deal in March 2017.
In January 2018, GVK decided to sell its remaining 10% in shares to Fairfax India Holdings for ₹1,290 crore (US$150 million), and exited BIAL completely.
26% of shares are held by government entities Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (13%) and Airports Authority of India (13%). 74% is held by private companies Fairfax Financial (54%) and Siemens Project Ventures (20%).
In March 2021, the Airports Authority of India announced their intention to sell their 13% stake in order to raise funds. Between FY22–25, the government aims to raise upto ₹20,782 crore (US$2.4 billion) through aviation. The process will begin with the auction of shares held in Bengaluru Airport, followed by the sales of shares held in the airports of Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.
Kempegowda International Airport has two runways in operation.
Four years after it was laid, the first runway (now designated 09L/27R) was entirely resurfaced due to a serious decline in quality. From 11 March to 3 April 2012, it was closed daily between 10:30AM and 5:30PM. BIAL accused construction company Larsen & Toubro of building the runway poorly.
The construction of the second runway (09R/27L) at the airport was completed and the runway inaugurated on 6 December 2019, with the departure of IndiGo Flight 466 (6E466) to Hyderabad. The runway can cater to Code-F aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8. It is equipped with CAT IIIB ILS. The runway also features a parallel taxiway and two cross-field taxiways in the east, linking the new runway to the old runway and the aprons at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The original runway (09L/27R) was also upgraded as part of the expansion work.
The old runway (09L/27R) was closed from 22 June 2020 for nine months for rehabilitation and strengthening. It was opened for operations again on 31 March 2021, along with the operational south runway. On doing so, KIA became the first airport in South India to facilitate parallel runway operations.
The north runway (09L/27R) is approved for and capable of low-visibility takeoffs, allowing aircraft movement even when the runway visual range (RVR) is as low as 125m. Civil works to also equip this runway with a CAT IIIB ILS system were completed in December 2024. The calibration for the ILS was completed in January 2025 and the runway is expected to be operationalised with full CAT IIIB ILS capability by May 2025.
A 150,556 m (1,620,570 sq ft) terminal building that can handle 35 million passengers per annum handles domestic flights operated by IndiGo, Akasa Air, Alliance Air and SpiceJet. Check-in and baggage reclaim areas are situated on the lower floor, while departure gates are located on the lower & upper floors. Boarding gates 1, 2, 12–18 and 28–43 on the upper floor are equipped with jet bridges. Boarding gates 3–9 and 19–25 on the lower floor form the Western and Eastern bus gates respectively. Gates 41–42 are equipped to serve the world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.
Prior to September 2023, Terminal 1 handled both international and domestic operations. With Terminal 2 being used for international operations since 12 September 2023, Terminal 1 has shifted to handling only domestic traffic.
In 2019, BIAL retracted the rights of Above Ground Level and Plaza Premium to operate the lounges in Terminal 1, and decided to operate them by themselves. Following this decision, and the transfer of international flights, there are now only two lounges in Terminal 1: the BLR Domestic Lounge and the new 080 Domestic Lounge (which is split into 2 disconnected lounges, as 1 used to serve the erstwhile international departures). Named "080" after the trunk dial code of the city, the new lounge aims to pay an ode to the culture of Bengaluru with local artistry, regional culture-inspired interiors and botanical elements. Both lounges are operated by Travel Food Services on behalf of the airport.
The airport's second terminal was designed as a tribute to the "Garden City" title of Bengaluru by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and was constructed by Larsen & Toubro. It was inaugurated on 11 November 2022, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and began operations in January 2023. The first phase of Terminal 2, built at a cost of ₹5,000 crore (US$580 million), is 255,000 square metres (2,740,000 sq ft) and will help augment the capacity of the airport by an additional 25 million passengers per annum. The second phase of Terminal 2 is planned to increase capacity by an additional 20 million passengers per annum. Construction of the first phase of Terminal 2 commenced in 2018, but the project faced delays owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arrivals are situated on the ground floor, while departures are on the first floor. The first phase of Terminal 2 features 95 check-in counters, 17 security lanes, 9 baggage claim belts, 34 conventional and 6 electronic immigration gates. With provisions for Code-F gates to handle larger aircraft like the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8, the first phase of Terminal 2 began domestic operations on 15 January 2023, with Star Air Flight 117 (S5117) to Kalaburagi being the first scheduled flight to use the new terminal. On 12 September 2023, Terminal 2 began handling all international operations, with Saudia Flight 867 (SV867) from Jeddah operating the first international arrival and subsequent departure. In addition to handling all international operations, Terminal 2 also handles all domestic flights operated by Air India, Air India Express and Star Air.
The airport has a fuel farm spread over 11 acres (4.5 ha) west of the cargo village and passenger terminal. It was built by Indian Oil Skytanking Ltd (IOSL), but is shared by multiple oil companies. In October 2008, IndianOil commissioned a 36-kilometre (22 mi) fuel pipeline between its storage terminal in Devanagonthi and Kempegowda International Airport.
Kempegowda Airport has three cargo terminals. One is operated by AISATS (Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services) Ltd. and includes a facility for storing pharmaceuticals. DHL and Blue Dart Aviation jointly operate a 20,500-square-metre (221,000 sq ft) terminal.
The third cargo terminal is operated by Menzies Aviation Bobba (Bangalore) Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between Menzies Aviation and Bobba Group (a sales agency for Lufthansa Cargo). The 16,000-square-metre (170,000 sq ft) cargo terminal began operations in May 2008. Additionally, a greenfield domestic cargo terminal spanning 28,300-square-metre (305,000 sq ft) opened in February 2025. Combined, the terminal has the capacity to handle 680,000 tonnes (750,000 short tons) tons of cargo annually.
The airport has capacity for upto 1,400,000 tonnes (1,500,000 short tons) of cargo processed annually and currently sees ~450,000 tonnes (500,000 short tons) handled per year. The airport processed the highest amount of perishable cargo in the country in FY23–24.
BIAL inaugurated a separate cargo village in December 2008. The village is spread over 11 acres (4.5 ha) and includes office spaces, conference rooms, a cafeteria for staff and parking space for nearly 80 trucks.
On 4 September 2019, India's biggest airline IndiGo announced that it would extend its learning academy, iFly, to Bengaluru, its 2nd such facility in the country. From 6 September 2019 onwards, iFly began facilitating training to IndiGo flight crew. With over 27,000 employees, there are over 100 instructors in the academy who conduct workshops and training exercises on a regular basis.
IndiGo's second MRO facility to service their fleet of Airbus jets is located at KIA. The 20,300-square-metre (218,000 sq ft) facility has capacity for narrow-body aircraft and houses a single bay catering for widebody aircraft. The MRO became operational in November 2022.
Aligning with their vision to establish a hub at the airport, Air India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in February 2024 to build Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facilities at Kempegowda International Airport, for airframe maintenance of both wide-body and narrow-body jets, including heavy structural checks. The MRO will be built on a 35-acre parcel of land and is expected to be operational in early 2026.
Food services provider SATS set up their first central kitchen in India at the airport, a 14,000-square-metre (150,690 sq ft) facility, with an investment of ₹210 crore (US$25 million), to cater to the demand in the region. SATS already has a long-standing partnership with the airport, through its aviation catering associate TajSATS and ground handling associate AISATS. The facility began operations on 16 March 2024.
As part of the airport's master plan, Phase 2 of Terminal 2 will be completed to add an additional capacity of 20 million passengers per annum. There are also plans to build an APM (Automated People Mover) system, that will allow passengers to seamlessly connect between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, and eventually to Terminal 3.
The final phase of the master plan involves identifying a location for Terminal 3, though this is expected only in the late 2020s or early 2030s, depending on passenger traffic. With Terminal 3, the airport is eyeing a capacity of 90-100 million passengers per annum. In the interim, several infrastructure projects such as the construction of the Airport's Metro & Suburban Rail connections and the Airport City are planned.
As of October 2024, the design for the airport's new western cross-field taxiway is almost complete, with civil works set to begin in the first quarter of 2025. Approximately 0.87-mile (1.4 km) in length, the two parallel taxiways will link the airport's two runways on the western side of the airfield and will be able to accommodate Code-F aircraft. The taxiway will cross the main access road, the north cargo road and the upcoming Airport Metro line. The taxiway is set to be commissioned 36 months after the start of construction.
Kempegowda International Airport is connected to the city of Bengaluru by National Highway 44 (NH44). In January 2014, a six-lane flyover was completed over NH44 between Hebbal and the airport, helping to reduce travel time to and from the city. Two alternative routes run through Thanisandra and through Budigere. The airport has 4 parking lots located at ground level. Alongside BIAL operating its own taxi service, ride-sharing companies Ola, Uber and BluSmart have dedicated "taxi zones" outside both terminals.
The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has a dedicated "pickup zone" outside both terminals and provides bus transportation to all parts of the city through the Vayu Vajra (Kannada for "Diamond in the Air") service. It operated using a fleet of Volvo B7RLE which were later replaced by Switch EiV12 buses. Additionally, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operates a nonstop bus service called "Flybus" between Kempegowda International Airport and Mysore, as well as a route to Manipal via Mangalore.
Upcoming future projects include the construction of a Eastern Tunnel Access Road which will decongest the route taken by passengers travelling from Whitefield, by reducing travel times by 30%. It is expected to cost ₹200 crore (US$23 million) and finish construction in 3 years. BIAL is also considering the construction of access roads that link the airport to the new Satellite Town Ring Road.
A halt at the KIA boundary commenced operations in January 2021. The train halt is connected to the airport terminal via short five-minute shuttle buses. Five trains from the city operate daily to Devanahalli station at the KIA halt. Future plans include turning Devanahalli station into a mega rail terminal to decongest the city's railway stations and serve as the hub of the planned 178-mile (287 km) circular rail network and high-speed rail (HSR) lines.
The Airport and Airport City will also be connected to the city by the Sampige line of the under-construction Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP). It is expected to be operational by December 2027.
The plan to build a metro link between Bengaluru and its airport was revived in 2020, and is now under construction as part of the Blue Line. The project will link Bengaluru with the airport under Phase 2 of the Namma Metro project, and is 36-mile (58 km) long. The line connects with the Red & Orange Lines at Hebbal, Pink Line at Nagawara, Purple Line at K.R. Puram and Yellow Line at Central Silk Board, thus serving the entire city. The project is expected to open in three phases between June and December 2026.
There are two metro stations being built in the airport campus; one to serve the upcoming Airport City and the other one in the Multi Modal Transport Hub opposite Terminal 2. The cost of building these two stations is estimated to be ₹800 crore (US$93 million).
Bengaluru-based startup Sarla Aviation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BIAL to establish "air taxi" operations between Electronic City in Bengaluru South and the airport using eVTOL aircraft. Tickets are expected to cost ₹1,700 (US$20) and the service is expected to cover the 32-mile (52 km) stretch in just 19 minutes.
Media related to Kempegowda International Airport at Wikimedia Commons