Indicating a positive trend in air travel, the Kempegowda International Airport, operated by the Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL), said on Thursday that now it connects 61 destinations in the country with new addition to Jorhat, Gorakhpur and Jharsuguda beginning from January this year.
Airport authorities have said that flight services to five more destinations, including Rajkot, Durgapur and Dibrugarh are expected to commence later this month, followed by Agra and Kurnool in March. Meanwhile, Silchar, Darbhanga, Amritsar, Nashik, and Jabalpur routes were launched last year that takes the overall tally of new routes for the financial year 2020-21 to 13.
Improved regional connectivity
The Bengaluru Airport, said in a statement, that it catered to 58 domestic destinations before the onset of the pandemic.
But thanks to the new additions now, 270 flights, carrying an average of 30,000 passengers each day, depart for non-metro cities since January 2021, the statement said.
The airport also said that improved regional connectivity has led to a three-fold increase in flying passengers to various non-metro destinations in India.
A renewed confidence among passengers in the hygiene and safety of air travel amid the pandemic has further led to a significant increase in the share of non-metro passengers from 55 per cent in financial year 19-20 to 64 per cent in financial year 20-21, it added.
