While Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) was the busiest airport in Karnataka handling 31.91 million passengers during the financial year 2022-23, Bidar airport handled the least number of passengers (10,140) during the period.
Replying to a question at the Lok Sabha during the ongoing parliamentary session, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen. (Dr) V.K. Singh (Retd) stated that among the 129 airports in the country, KIA was ranked third in terms of handling passengers during 2022-23.
In top spots
The top spot was occupied by Delhi and Mumbai airports followed by KIA which handled 28.12 million domestic passengers and 3.78 million international passengers.
Among the State airports, the Mangaluru International Airport was the second busiest as it handled 18.92 lakh passengers of which 12.77 lakh were domestic and 5.31 lakh were international passengers.
Hubballi and Belagavi airports occupied the third and fourth spots catering to 3.22 lakh and 2.97 lakh passengers respectively. During 2022-23, Mysuru and Kalaburgi airports handled 1.88 lakh and 79,143 passengers respectively.
Interestingly, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) airport handled 14,885 passengers of which 14,863 domestic and 22 international passengers.
The HAL airport stopped commercial flight operations in May 2008 after the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) located in Devanahalli was inaugurated. However, HAL airport is open for charter and VIP flight operations.
Best domestic airport
KIA has secured the title of the Best Domestic Airport at the 12th edition of the Travel + Leisure India’s Best Awards 2023.
Hari Marar, MD & CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), said, “We are honoured to be recognised nationally as the best domestic airport in the country. At BLR Airport, we are dedicated to continually improving service standards. This award acknowledges the hard work of our entire airport community, and we are grateful to our growing and dedicated passengers for their vote of confidence and continued support.”
