Bengaluru: With simultaneous departures from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) to be implemented from Sept, its departure capacity is expected to be significantly increased.Airports Authority of India (AAI), in a recent supplement, issued two standard departure charts in which it also specified that simultaneous departures can be handled from runway 27 L and 27 R. This change will mean that aircraft will not have to wait while only one runway is in use for departure.With parallel departures being allowed on both runways, aviation experts say, taxi time will be reduced and planes will even save fuel and time. The peak-hour departure movements can also jump significantly since aircraft aren’t stacking up waiting for a single departure slot.KIA may carry 80mn pax by 2030Union minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol told Lok Sabha that Bengaluru airport’s passenger footfall capacity is expected to reach 80 million passengers per annum (MPPA) by 2030.The estimates, he said, have factored in Phase 2 of the airport’s Terminal 2, expected to increase its capacity from existing 25 MPPA to 45 MPPA. KIA’s current annual passenger handling capacity is 51.5 million.Awaiting Karnataka’s proposal on 2nd airport: MinisterReferring to the proposed second airport in Bengaluru, Mohol reiterated that AAI has conducted pre-feasibility studies at three sites proposed by state govt. “The pre-feasibility study report has been sent to Karnataka. Govt of India (GoI) has not received any proposal thereafter under greenfield airports policy either from GoK or any airport developer for development of a second greenfield airport near Bengaluru,” the minister stated.
