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Bengaluru Airport now connects 61 destinations across the country, indicating a positive trend in air travel to non-metro cities. Putting out a statement on Thursday, Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) said that the airport catered to 58 domestic destinations before the onset of the pandemic.

“The new additions are Jorhat (IndiGo), Gorakhpur (IndiGo) and Jharsuguda (SpiceJet) that commenced operations in January 2021. Further cementing its position as one of the best-connected airports in the country, (the Bengaluru) airport will soon have flights to five new destinations that are Rajkot, Durgapur (SpiceJet) and Dibrugarh (IndiGo) later this month, followed by Agra and Kurnool in March 2021,” read the statement issued by BIAL.

Silchar, Darbhanga, Amritsar, Nashik, and Jabalpur were the other new destinations that were announced earlier in the Financial Year 2020-’21, taking the overall tally of new routes for the fiscal to 13. “The enhanced connectivity to regional and non-metro routes from Bengaluru Airport further accentuates the focus of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, on improving India’s regional connectivity,” the statement further said.

According to the airport authority, owing to renewed confidence among passengers on hygiene and safety of air travel amid the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in passenger traffic to non-metro cities. “A daily average of 270 flights, carrying an average of 30,000 passengers per day, departed to non-metro cities in January 2021. Meanwhile, the improved regional connectivity has led to a three-fold increase in transfer passengers, further strengthening (the) airport’s position as the new gateway to India,” the statement said.

With the geographical advantage that enables fast and easy access to catchment areas of South India and other non-metro airports, Bengaluru Airport is driving the growth of the region, with an increase in the share of non-metro passengers from 55% in Financial Year 2019-’20 to 64% in Financial Year 2020-’21. “These factors have enabled Bengaluru Airport faster recovery of Air Traffic Movements and passenger traffic as compared with other major airports in India,” BIAL said.