The new terminal, T2, at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport), will be operational from September 1 for all international flights.
Hari Marar, MD and CEO of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which operates KIA, told Moneycontrol, “International operations will be completely relocated to T2, while Terminal 1 (T1) will exclusively serve as a domestic terminal. September 1 is the firm date for the collective transition of all international airlines from T1 to T2. The transition will not be carried out in phases, as immigration counters and customs office need to be set up. At midnight on August 31, all international traffic will be shifted to T2. This overnight transition is quite exciting“.
In January this year, T2 opened for domestic flight operations at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. The terminal was built at the cost of around Rs 5,000 crore and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2022.
Terminal 2 is designed as a tribute to the garden city of Bengaluru and the passenger experience is meant to be a “walk in the garden.” Passengers will travel through 10,000+ sq metres of green walls, hanging gardens and outdoor gardens and all of these were made in India using indigenous technology.
Once the operations shift to T2, Kempegowda International Airport’s T1 will undergo refurbishment. T1 began operations 15 years ago, on May 24, 2008. In 2023-24, BIAL is expected to approach close to 40 million passengers. Once the international airlines shifted to T2, refurbishment work of T1 will commence.