Tag Archives: Bengaluru International Airport

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

Pictures of Vistara A320neo first commercial flight

The Tata Singapore Airlines joint venture Vistara operated the inaugural flight of their brand new Airbus A320neo from New Delhi to Bangalore yesterday morning as flight UK811. The aircraft registered VT-TNB features slight changes in the livery including the Vistara star and A320neo branding on the belly, and a banner along the upper fuselage. Like national carrier Air India, Vistara’s …

Read More »

Etihad to begin third daily from Bangalore

Etihad Airways Airbus A320 A6-EIC at Kempegowda Airport, Bangalore

Middle-eastern carrier Etihad Airways will launch a third daily flight from Bangalore to Abu Dhabi from 26 March 2017. The new flight will allow the airline to offer passengers from Bangalore more connections to Europe and North America via it’s Abu Dhabi hub. The flight will be operated using a two class Airbus A321. The new flight’s late night departure …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

Photos: Night spotting at Bangalore Airport

View of part of the ramp at Bangalore Airport at night.

A couple of weeks back thanks to the BIAL and the Aviation Photographers India, I had the opportunity to go airside at Bangalore Airport and do some night photography. Most of Bangalore’s international traffic operates at night and hence the night is a great time to see different airline’s apart from the regular Indigo, Jet and Emirates. Aside from the …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

Bengaluru and Mumbai airports plan runway closures. Pax, airlines, fares hit.

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

As Air traffic grows at an exponential pace, Indian airports are struggling to keep up. Building capacity ahead of demand has never quite been the norm and this is now catching up. Airports like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Goa are severely constrained and in the near term the capacity woes will continue. While terminal capacity and landside capacity can be managed, …

Read More »

Air India to launch Bangalore Hubli flights

Air India Regional Alliance Air first ATR72-600 VT-AII. ATR image.

National carrier Air India has announced it will launch thrice a week flights between Bengaluru (BLR) and Hubballi (HBX) from 20th July. The flights will be operated by ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft. The flights will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday as per the following schedule : Flight Departure Arrival AI 9509 (BLR-HBX) 15:45 17:05 AI 9510 (HBX-BLR) 17:25 18:35 …

Read More »

Uber and Ola cabs get dedicated pick-up zones at Bangalore Kempegowda airport

Taxi aggregators Uber and Ola Cabs have signed agreements with airport operator Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) to offer their customers dedicated pick-up zones at Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport. Both the dedicated ‘Ola Zone’ and ‘U Zone’ appear to be located near P2 parking just behind the BMTC Vayu Vajra Bus Stand.     Customers can make their booking soon …

Read More »

IndiGo launches 16 new flights

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITC. Copyrighted image. Re-use prohibited.

Low cost carrier, Indigo is introducing 16 new flights through it’s domestic network. From 7 April, the airline will begin it’s first non-stop daily flight on the Chennai-Guwahati route, 2nd daily Bengaluru-Guwahati and 4th daily Delhi-Raipur. The airline will begin it’s 14th direct Delhi-Bengaluru and 7th direct Delhi-Ahmedabad flight’s on 9 April. A new non-stop daily Chennai-Jaipur flight and one-stop …

Read More »

Air Pegasus orders five ATR-72’s

Air Pegasus ATR 72-500 VT-APA.

Bangalore based Air Pegasus has added a third ATR 72-500 to it’s fleet. The airline will add another two aircraft in the coming two months and has placed an order for five more aircraft, intending to expand its fleet to 10 by the end of this year. Air Pegasus will use the new aircraft to start operations to Puducherry, Goa, …

Read More »

BIAL moves forward on second runway. Target completion in two years.

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

According to informed sources, Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) the operator of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIAB), has commenced activities on constructing the second parallel runway on the south side of the airport. The airport is targeting completion of the new runway in two years. The new runway will be parallel to the existing runway, 4,000 metres long, again like …

Read More »

Jet Airways increases flights to Bangalore

Jet Airways' Boeing 737-800 VT-JBD

Full service carrier, Jet Airways is incresing it’s services on it’s domestic network by introducing routes between four new city pairs and adding 19 additional frequencies in it’s winter schedule. The airline will also operate flights 9W 362 and 361 between Delhi and Mumbai with an Airbus A330-200. The airline is increasing frequencies between Bangalore and Delhi to ten daily …

Read More »

Through the lens: Leased Spicejets, Air India Sharklet and more

Air India Boeing 787-8 VT-ANE.

First up in this Through the lens is VT-EXC. EXC is the latest Airbus A320 in Air India’s fleet and sports the new ‘Sharklet’ wingtips, it has been leased from China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC). It is the third out of five aircrafts that will be leased from CALC by the airline. The aircraft is powered by two …

Read More »

Nepal Airlines, Thai AirAsia and Kuwait Airways begin Bangalore service

Kuwait Airways Airbus A300B4-605R 9K-AMA at Frankfurt Main airport. Kuwait Airways Airbus A300B4-605R 9K-AMA at Frankfurt Main airport. Photo by Devesh Agarwal.

Three new foreign carriers are beining services to Bangalore today. The first Nepal Airlines RA-225 was operated by an Airbus A320 (9N-AKX), the service will operate thrice a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Flight Number Origin Destination STD STA RA-225 Kathmandu Bangalore 12:40 15:35 RA-226 Bangalore Kathmandu 16:25 19:40 The second airline to commence service today is Thai Air …

Read More »

Pictures: New Indian carrier Flyeasy’s first Embraer E190

Soon to be launched regional airline Flyeasy’s first aircraft is out of the paint-shop with the airlines livery. After some tracing we believe the aircraft is ex-VP-CQZ (MSN 19000217) which is leased from flynas. The aircraft is a six year old Embraer ERJ-190. The aircraft will most likely be registered VT-VVA. The aircraft is powered by two General Electric CF34 …

Read More »

Exclusive photos: Vistara’s inaugural flight to Bangalore

Vistara Airbus A320 VT-TTC arrives at Bengaluru performing the airline's inaugural flight UK889 from New Delhi.

The Tata-Singapore Airline joint venture airline, Vistara commenced operations at Bangalore today, a little over five months after it first commenced operations. As reported earlier, from today the airline commenced daily flights from the tech capital of the country to the the national capital New Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai. Bangalore Aviation was at hand to capture the arrival …

Read More »

Through the lens: Lufthansa Retro Livery and more

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i D-ABYT in the "retro livery"

Late last night we got a heads up from friends in Germany that Lufthansa was operating their retro liveried Boeing 747-8i to Bangalore today morning. So of-course there we were at our spotting location at 1 AM waiting for it to arrive. The aircraft is D-ABYT, named K枚ln is the 1,513th Boeing 747 to be produced and is painted in …

Read More »
+OK