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Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/BLR Airport) in the first-half of FY2020-21 processed 131,603 mt of freight at its cargo terminal.
The cargo processed in September was 32,449 mt, a growth of over 0.3 per cent, against the same period last year. September 2020 witnessed over 4.5 per cent growth in international cargo, of which export cargo grew by over 7.6 per cent. Meanwhile, domestic cargo is showing a slower recovery at 5.2 per cent lower than the same period last year.
BLR Airport processed 17,212 mt of perishable cargo during this period. The airport accounted for highest exports of perishables among Indian airports till June 2020 according to the APEDA data. It had also processed 180,745 kg of pomegranate between April and August. The other segments driving growth are readymade garments, engineering goods, pharma and medical supplies.
The introduction of our road feeder service – LOGI Connect – to link cities such as Tirupur, Coimbatore, Ambur, Salem, Erode, Hyderabad and Chennai augmented growth, powering BLR Airport’s all-India market share of air cargo from 11 per cent to 14 per cent. Before the pandemic, around 60 per cent of domestic and international freight was being carried in belly space of passenger aircraft and the remainder in freighters.
With the reduction in passenger flights due to restrictions, several airlines — both domestic and international — converted P2C aircraft, enabling the availability of a larger amount of cargo capacity. BLR Airport saw a growth of cargo aircraft movements by 139 per cent against the previous year.
While Q2 witnessed 46 per cent growth in ATMs against Q1, the total tonnage, improved by 84 per cent.
Recovery
Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru has reconnected 51 domestic destinations, achieving 88 per cent connectivity of the pre-Covid19 routes. In addition, Vande Bharat Mission and Air Bubble programmes have enabled BLR Airport to connect with 22 international destinations.
With the gradual easing of restrictions, Air Traffic Movements have witnessed an encouraging trend, recovering to 53 per cent of the previous year's flight movements.
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