‘AI, IndiGo can turn Indian airports into international hubs’

“Today, 2-3 airlines have the size, capability as well as a critical threshold to make a hub. Realistically, Air India, IndiGo and Vistara have the potential to make a hub,” Marar said in an interview.

Air India will announce its 500 aircraft order with Boeing and Airbus this week, including over 100 dual aisle aircraft, to help boost India’s international connectivity and make Indian airports global hubs.

India’s civil aviation ministry held stakeholder consultations to explore possibilities of creating multiple hubs in India —Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. The strategy includes encouraging airlines to induct more wide-body aircraft and reduce transit time for domestic as well as international flights, Mint reported in September citing two officials.

Bengaluru airport’s biggest strength over other metro airports is that it has got “unconstrained” airside and landside connectivity to allow the hub- and-spoke flows, Marar said.

BIAL’s Terminal-II recently added a capacity of 25 million passengers per annum to the existing 35-36 million passengers Terminal-I. It can also add another 20 million annual passenger capacity in phase two of Terminal-II besides land bank for a third terminal.

While capacity has to be one step ahead of demand, Marar said the visibility of an airline’s plans help airports plan capacity in a timely fashion as the process takes at least 3-4 years. “From news reports, we know Air India and IndiGo are going to add planes, what we don’t know is how many of them are going to be based in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, etc. That visibility helps airports plan their capacity better,” he added.

For now, IndiGo is the largest airline at Bengaluru. India’s youngest airline, Akasa, has a strong base in Bengaluru with 14 out of 16 aircraft anchored here. Bangalore airport looks at cargo a strategic interest and will increase annual handling capacity to 750,000 tonnes from 412,000 tonnes now.