Bengaluru’s Kempegowda Airport Now Connects To 100 Destinations Globally

Bengaluru, India's tech hub, has now connected to 100 non-stop destinations, marking a major milestone for the city's Kempegowda International Airport. "Reaching 100 destinations is a significant achievement in our journey to becoming the natural gateway to South and Central India," said Satyaki Raghunath, COO of Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL). Among these, 72 destinations are domestic, while 28 are international, with IndiGo's new flight to Jabalpur being the latest addition.

Since starting operations with 9 million passengers in its first year, the airport now operates two runways and terminals, handling over 40 million passengers and 465,000 metric tons of cargo annually. Over the next decade, BIAL expects to serve more than 85 million passengers and manage over a million metric tons of cargo each year.

Kempegowda International Airport began operations on May 24, 2008, in Devanahalli, about 40 km from Bengaluru's Central Business District. On December 1, 2023, it became the third-busiest airport in India, after Delhi and Mumbai, crossing 300 million passengers.

The airport is primarily owned by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax Group, which holds a 64% stake, while Siemens Project Ventures owns 10%. The remaining 26% is equally split between the Karnataka State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and the Airports Authority of India.