Indian airports

UDF passenger fees reduced by 67% at Bangalore airport

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) has published its order of tariffs for the second control period (April 2016 – March 2021) at Bangalore airport. The user development fees (UDF) at Bangalore airport have been reduced by 67% from 16 September 2018. However the UDF will increase every year as the airport invests in the second runway and …

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UDF passenger fees set to significantly reduce at Bangalore airport from July

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL), the operator of Bangalore’s Kempegowda international airport, has proposed a steep decrease in user development fees (UDF) collected from every departing passenger from July 1. From the current ₹384.27 the UDF for domestic passengers is proposed to be reduced to ₹79.19. International passengers will pay an UDF of ₹316.76 down from the current ₹1,537. However, the joy …

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Çelebi to become third ground handling provider at Bangalore

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

Turkish ground handling company Çelebi Airport Services has been awarded a ground handling license by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL). The contract was won after a bidding process which saw multiple global ground handling participate. The company will begin to provide ground handling services from August 2018 under a 10 year concession. The company plans to invest $7-9 million in …

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Indigo and Spicejet move to Delhi T2 on 25 March

Jet Airways A330 fleet at New Delhi IGI airport Terminal 2

Low cost carriers Indigo and Spicejet have announced that they will move certain flights to Delhi airport’s terminal 2 on 25 March 2018. For those unfamiliar with the history, in mid 2017 Delhi airport announced plans to expand terminal 1. To facilitate this expansion the airport needed some of the terminal’s existing traffic to move to terminal 2. The airport …

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Video: Time-lapse of Fanhansa 747 turn-around

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i D-ABYI 'Fanhansa Livery'.

Last time I was airside at Bangalore airport, I tried to shoot some video along with the pictures you usually see on BangaloreAviation. I tried a time-lapse of the turn-around of Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8i D-ABYI service between Frankfurt and Bengaluru Kempegowda airport. On a time-lapse certain movements which are very slow in real life get magnified. Enjoy watching how the …

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Photos: DHL Boeing 767 at Bangalore Airport

The Boeing 767 was developed in the 1970’s along with the 757 and first flew in 1981. The aircraft would prove to be a very successful model for the American airframer with over 1100 having been produced and orders still pending for the freighter and military versions of the aircraft. Unfortunately the 767 is not a commonly seen aircraft in …

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Court favours Delhi airport, but IndiGo and Spicejet resist move to T2

Jet Airways A330 fleet at New Delhi IGI airport Terminal 2

In the on-going saga of getting airlines to move to the re-opened Terminal 2 (T2) at the Indira Gandhi airport, the Delhi High Court has passed a judgement favouring the airport operator M/s Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). In November, India’s largest domestic airline, Indigo, had approached the court petitioning against DIAL’s efforts forcing IndiGo to shift a part of …

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Only one runway in 50 years. India’s lagging airport expansion.

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

In 2006-07, Mumbai and New Delhi airports were awarded to M/s GMR and GVK and entered an era of private airport management. In the mean time, private public partnership greenfield airports were in progress at Kochi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. Passengers across the nation waited with anticipation to finally be free of the poor service standards of the Airports Authority of …

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Bangalore wants to be India’s first full biometric entry and boarding airport

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport is trying to become India’s first fully biometric airport by the end of next year. Under this system, a passenger enters their Aadhaar UID number when booking their travel. The passenger can enter the airport, check-in, pass through security, and board the aircraft using their stored biometric information like fingerprints. There will be no need for …

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New Delhi IGI airport unveils ambitious expansion plan starting with T1

Computer generated image of the upgraded T1 at New Delhi IGI Airport

Driven by a massive 27% increase in passengers at Terminal 1 (T1), the GMR Group led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) consortium, has unveiled an ambitious expansion plan to India’s largest airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. The Master Plan will be implemented in three phases – 3A from 2018 to 2021, 3B from 2021 to 2025 and 4 …

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Lounge Review: GVK Lounge East Mumbai Airport

After finally clearing immigration at Mumbai airport. I headed to the GVK Lounge East which is the contract lounge used by Air India. I believe there is another larger lounge on the west side of the terminal which also hosts within it a first class lounge. Mumbai airport has a system wherein the individual airlines do have their own lounges …

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Hotel review: Niranta Mumbai airport transit hotel at Terminal 2

The check-in hall at Mumbai CSI airport.

After getting off domestic Air India flight from Bangalore around 21:00, my onward flight was at 06:30 the next morning. The layover was not long enough to head into town and wasn’t short enough to just loiter around the terminal. I had booked a room at the airside transit hotel at Mumbai airport. Crossing Immigration – Reaching too early!! After going …

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Lounge Review: Above Ground Level lounge Bangalore Kempegowda airport

On my Air India trip from Bangalore to London, I finally used the Above Ground Level (AGL) lounge on the domestic side of Bangalore airport. The AGL lounge is located right beside the Plaza premium lounge just after security. The lounge is also located on the mezzanine right beside the Plaza lounge. However unlike the Plaza lounge this lounge does …

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GVK exits Bangalore airport. To focus on Mumbai airports.

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

Debt burdened GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd will sell the last of its stake in Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), approximately ten per cent, to Fairfax India Holdings, for Rs. 1,290 crore (about $200 million). BIAL is the operator of the Kempegowda International Airport. In an announcement to the stock exchange the company said “This is to inform you that …

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Runway capacity challenges at Delhi airport

Runway 28 at Indira Gandhi International Airport at night. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal.

New Delhi Indira Gandhi airport is looking to maximize efficiency of their runways via a series of measures. Bangalore Aviation has learned that the airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is working towards achieving a runway service rate of 104 movements per hour. This rate will include optimised pilot performance, optimised ATC performance and high intensity runway operations. Yet, …

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Six more Indian airports to stop stamping hand-baggage tags from June 1

The PTI is reporting that six additional airports will scrap the hand-baggage tags and stamping from June 1. Chennai, Jaipur, Guwahati, Lucknow, Trivandrum, and Patna, will join New Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Bengalooru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad which had scrapped this much despised process back on April 1. Quoting Mr O.P. Singh, the Director General of the Central Industrial Security Force …

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Spicejet first to use Bangalore airport’s new electronic boarding gate

Spicejet Boeing 737-800WL VT-SGK at New Delhi airport.

Gurugram based low fare carrier SpiceJet is the first airline to use the new electronic board gates at the Kempegowda airport in Bangalore. Spicejet’s departure control system is integrated with the e-Gates and allows passengers to board by self scanning their boarding passes, whether on paper, mobile, or smart watches. The system verifies the pass, and opens the gate is …

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Bangalore airport to partially close for Aero India and runway work

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

Bengaluru Kempegowda International airport will partially shut operations from February 8th to 18th due to the Aero India air show to allow for show rehearsals and flying displays. The airport will close from the 8th to 11th February for show rehearsals and from the 12th to 18th for the show itself. The airport operator, BIAL, has informed the airlines who …

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Mumbai airport first in India to introduce self baggage drop

One of he SITA Scan and Fly units deployed at Mumbai airport's Terminal 2.

Mumbai Airport has become the first Indian airport to introduce a self drop facility for check in bags. The airport has deployed SITA’s Scan&Fly bag drop units, which will allow passengers whom have checked in online to tag and drop their baggage themselves before proceeding to the gate. The self drop facility is available to passengers of Air India, Jet …

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Bangalore airport to close for 2.5 months due to runway exit upgrade

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

As reported by Bangalore Aviation in mid September, the Kempegowda airport (KIAB) at Bangalore will effectively cease operations during the day for two and a half months, from mid February to end April. As per a NOTAM (NOTice to AirMen) created on September 28, 2016 (received by us today), the sole runway at the airport, 09/27, will close from 10:30 …

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