Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/ BLR Airport) has facilitated safe transit of 38,896 international passengers between April 1 to July 31.

This included 174 evacuation flights, repatriating 14,857 passengers from India and 186 Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights, bringing 24,039 passengers from abroad. The VBM commenced from May 7, 2020.

BLR Airport release said July witnessed the highest number of evacuation fights – 87 – carrying 7,232 passengers from BLR Airport. For the first-time, BLR Airport facilitated evacuation flights from 11 new cities which included Auckland, Baku (Azerbaijan), Baghdad, Cairo, Incheon, Kuwait, Nigeria, Paro (Bhutan), Rome and Stockholm and Tbilisi (Georgia).

Ornamental fish

BLR Airport processed a special consignment of 24,200 exotic ornamental fish from Thailand in July. With approvals from Indian Customs and the Animal Quarantine Services, Bengaluru, the Betta splendens and Flower Horn fish were sent to their new home in Kozhikode, Kerala.

Live Human Organs

BLR Airport's Menzies Aviation Bobba Bangalore Cargo Terminal handled a “Live Human Organs (LHO)” shipment during the Covid-19 lockdown. Lufthansa Cargo carried the shipment, which included human blood stem cells and bone marrow to Bengaluru from Frankfurt on May 1, and a similar package was exported back to the same destination on May 16.

LHO consignments are handled with great care and handed over to the Captain of the aircraft as C/O (care of) crew for special care. The pre-information of such consignments is provided at the destination. On landing at the destination, the Captain must deliver the consignment on priority to the handling agency.

There is no special temperature requirement for such consignments as the box is equipped with the required gel pack to maintain temperature. LHOs are generally accompanied by a certified courier (a person carrying the consignment on board a flight), but due to a ban on passenger flights during this lockdown period, freighters were used to transport this precious package.