Bangalore grows 23% to surpass Chennai and become third largest airport in India

On the back of strong economic growth in the region, Bangalore has grown its passenger traffic 23% to 11.24 million for calendar 2010 surpassing Chennai to become the third largest airport in the country. For the last five years, Bangalore had been leading Chennai as the third largest in domestic passenger and freight traffic, but this year in May the Bengaluru International Airport has helped the city reach the number three slot in overall passenger traffic.

Read 2009 performance here

The passenger traffic in the last quarter was 3.06 million and just six days ago, on December 17, the airport handled 38,134 passengers, the highest ever reported since airport opened in May 2008.

Flight movements grew 8.2% to reach 110,437 averaging 312 movements per day and airlines fly to 30 domestic and 19 international destinations from Bangalore. Air Asia, Air China, Silk Air, Qatar Airways, and FedEx commenced operations to Bangalore during 2010.

The Best Managed Airport in India
The entry of the GVK group has energised airport operations which were facing a resource crunch. The airport won the title 'Best Managed Airport in India' in the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2010.

The airport operations group led by President Marcel Hungerbuehler and Director Hari Marar have been pushing for continuous improvements in efficiency. The airport maintained flight punctuality of over 85%, within 15 minutes of the scheduled time of departure. Baggage delivery has averaged six minutes from arrival time of aircraft on stand, for the first bag. Check-in wait times too are short at two and a half and four minutes for domestic and international flights respectively. (Read related story on the airport operations control centre.)

However, the management of the airport is going to have to work extra hard with government agencies to reduce the lines and wait times at immigration and to some extent security.

Air Cargo
With the resurgence of manufacturing activity in the hinterland, the airport's two cargo operators Menzies-Bobba Aviation and Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AI-SATS) saw an impressive 33% growth over last year to 210,000 metric tonnes. FedEx Express commenced direct flights to Bangalore and one can look forward DHL following suit, considering it has a major operations hub at the airport along with partner Blue Dart.

Due to the nature of its high-technology, pharma, food, floriculture, aviation and precision engineering industries, Bangalore has always led India in percentage of GSDP shipped by air. The local Customs commissionerate has traditionally been highly efficient compared with the rest of the country and many an industry from as far away as Chennai has considered importing cargo via Bangalore due to it faster clearing times.

The future
Based on economic projections and the accepted rule of thumb that air traffic grows at twice the GDP growth rate, one can safely estimate a growth of 15% year-on-year for the next two years.

Bangalore Aviation readers may recall the over-crowding in the departure halls soon after the airport opened in 2008 when traffic was at 10.3 million. The economic slowdown of 2008 and 2009 provided a breather to then promoters of the airport, but they chose not to invest in terminal expansion when they had the time.

Luckily for Bangalore, the airport operating company Bengaluru International Airport Limited, was acquired by the GVK group. The re-jiged management led by Managing Director Mr. Sanjay Reddy has fast-tracked the expansion of the existing terminal which is expected to be completed by 2012 and will increase the capacity by about 35%. See photos and video of the proposed expansion.

Indian carriers miss the international bus
The economic slowdown of 2008 and 2009 saw a 20.5% year-on-year contraction in domestic passenger traffic, while international traffic grew at 6.68%.

Despite this strength in international passenger traffic, while Indian carriers are increasing their domestic operations to capitalise on the growth, the three Indian carriers with significant international operations, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India, have largely chosen to ignore Bangalore for their international operations, handing over the international passenger market to foreign carriers. Emirates still remains the largest carrier to Bangalore with 20 wide body operations per week, followed by Lufthansa, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Air France and DragonAir.

Abu Dhabi based Eithad will commence a daily Airbus A320 service to Bangalore joining Qatar Airways to complete the gulf carrier troika.

The airport authorities are hopeful of snagging Thai Air Asia, Thai Tiger, DHL cargo, TNT cargo, China Southern and ANA, though I doubt Thai Tiger, TNT cargo and All Nippon commencing operations any time soon.

Related articles

• Jet flight delayed, flyers fume at Delhi's T3 (ibnlive.in.com)
• Despite healthy patronage, lone Salem flight cancelled (thehindu.com)
• Breakfast at Bangalore International Airport (kish.in)
• Appeal for more flights out of Mysore (thehindu.com)
• For Air Cargo, a Screening Conundrum (nytimes.com)

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Menzies Aviation erodes Lufthansa's passenger service quality at London Heathrow

In December last year I was a guest of Lufthansa and Fraport for a visit to the Frankfurt airport and Lufthansa world headquarters.

Having travelled from Bangalore till Frankfurt, I decided to visit my brother in London after the visit, and would return via Munich to Delhi.

Throughout the trip the on-board service was excellent in both business class (between India and Germany) as well as economy class (between Germany and London). I am spoilt, having flown a million miles on fellow Star Alliance carrier Singapore Airlines with its legendary cabin service standards, and even by these high standards, the Lufthansa cabin crew were good. They were polite, courteous and gracious, and at the same time very professional, and very efficient. Hat tip ladies.

The ground service at Bangalore and Munich airports were exemplary. Frankfurt airport left a little to be desired, but I would put it down to a severe over-crowding and terminal upgrades, more than anything else.

At London Heathrow, where Lufthansa has outsourced its entire ground handling including passenger check-in to Menzies Aviation, I had such a negative experience that all the pleasant memories of the trip were eroded to naught.

The Menzies Aviation personnel could not care less for a Lufthansa passenger, projecting a sullen and completely unhelpful attitude to the point of being rude, even in business class. They follow the rule book to the point of destroying customer experience, and the way they chase every penny of incremental revenue, like over-weight charges, one would think they are paid on commission.

Add to this a lack of adequate staff across all desks from ticketing, to commercial to check-in to boarding, leaves passengers frustrated, disgruntled and downright angry, long before they get on the flight, and also misutilises the few Lufthansa employees at the airport into performing jobs that are actually a Menzies responsibility.

I really felt for the Lufthansa cabin crew ex-Heathrow. They received the brunt of all the negative feelings built up thanks to the poor ground experience which are a result of an outsourced process.

I can fully understand an airline's need to reduce cost, but at what cost? Is Lufthansa saving money if it looses customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in return?

One can only hope someone of influence in Lufthansa reads this article and decides to do a savings vs. loss analysis on their decision to use Menzies Aviation.

I drew parallels with the on-going battle in India about unified outsourced ground handling. The ministry of civil aviation, supported by airport operators and ground handling companies, is trying to force domestic airlines in India to use ground handling companies instead of performing self-handling. Co-incidentally, Menzies has a significant presence in ground and cargo handling operations in India.

Domestic airlines are opposed to the demand of the ministry, since it is requiring inclusion of passenger facing duties like check-in, to be outsourced. The check-in process is a crucial builder or destroyer of the passenger experience. Airlines reward frequent flier brand loyalty with improved ground experiences be it checking-in at a separate or premium class desk or access to lounges, etc.

May be domestic airlines should consider making an example of how Menzies Aviation completely erodes the Lufthansa passenger experience at London along with the airline's brand perception, as a case-in-point to the ministry.

I for one will not fly Lufthansa to London Heathrow as long as Menzies Aviation handles any customer facing task for Lufthansa, nor will I recommend any Bangalore Aviation reader to do so.

Clarification: My travel from Frankfurt to London to Munich were paid for by me. Furthermore, my code of ethics requires me to inform Bangalore Aviation readers with an accurate opinion, especially if negative, even on a sponsored trip.

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Bengaluru International Airport completes 6 months of operations

Bengaluru International Airport announced the completion of six months of airport operations. The new greenfield airport opened on 24-May-08.

80% of the aircrafts departed on time with 15 mins tolerance, as per the internationally accepted norms. Average wait time for delivery of the first baggage on the arrival belt being 9 minutes for domestic and 13 minutes for international arrivals. Average queue time at check-in is 10 minutes, at security check it is 7 minutes, at arrival immigration it is 15 minutes and at departure immigration it is just 7 minutes.

Albert Brunner, CEO of BIAL shared data, facts and figures with the media. He said, “The passenger today is evolved with his travel to other international airports. The performance at an airport is measured in terms of the time taken for each process and his quick entry and exit from the airport. We are glad to have established the success of this six month young airport with data supporting its operational efficiency.”

Bengaluru International Airport Traffic

The airport began operations with 170 flights per day in May-08, it ended the summer ‘08 season with 162 flights per day. For the winter ’08, flights increased to 165 per day resulting in a growth of 1.5%. Although the domestic air traffic reflects a decline of 1.5%, this overall positive growth is due to the increased international flight operations from Bangalore further establishing the many promises that the city holds. Compared to the summer season, the airport will see a 23% growth in international movements.

The last six months have seen the introduction of six new international air carriers into Bangalore, making more global destinations directly accessible to air travelers. These include Dragon Air, Tiger Airways, Oman Air, Air Mauritius and most recently Indian carriers - Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways. This increase is largely due to the city’s attractive air traffic passenger profile and the increased capacity of the new airport.

The total increase in international flights during the winter schedule is over 160% as compared to last year’s winter schedule. New flights and sectors from our Bengaluru International Airport also includes Indian Airlines to Abu Dhabi which commenced operations from 27-Oct-08. Additionally, Transmile (freighter ) will begin operations to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur - Subang).

New additions at the terminal

Bengaluru International Airport recently opened its Reserved Lounge that caters to high profile and important travelers such as MLAs, MPs, Chief Secretaries, visiting dignitaries and high profile executives. The lounge also houses an office for the State Intelligence and is operational 24/7. The other lounges in the terminal building include the Oberoi, Kingfisher and BIAL operated lounge - Cafe Net at the domestic departures. In addition, the VVIP terminal on the airside also has a lounge. The airport is readying to add the Indian (IC) lounge, soon to open, to its list of lounges, built on par with international standards.

My personal observations

• Congratulations to the BIAL team for completing 6 months. The airport is coming along nicely on the passenger front. The cargo terminal operators are doing a good to decent job, and operations are stabilising at AI-SATS and good at Menzies.

But....................

• The whole focus of BIAL is still only on passengers. Its time for their focus to include "Non passenger" business visitors', whose needs are still ignored. The air cargo operations contributes about 30% of airport revenue to BIAL, and is critical for most industries.
• There is no parking, no proper security or traffic control in the service roads near the service areas like flight kitchens, cargo terminals, airline offices, etc.
  
• There are almost 5,000 employees at the airport, and an additional 1,000+ of business providers like cargo agents and customs agents. Many of these staff, want to use the Vayu Vajra and Suvarna bus services, to reduce transport cost and travel in greater comfort. BMTC has an excellent monthly pass, but they are unable to use it, as these buses only can stop at the main parking.
  
• There is no shuttle bus service INSIDE the airport which can link long term parking with the passenger terminal building, or the main. Inside the airport premises is BIAL responsibility and they have to fulfil it.
• The cargo village is still not delivered. The airlines' offices building is still not delivered.
• There is no official, active involvement with industry, the primary customer of the airport.
  

I can only exhort BIAL to improve in these areas of shortcoming. Time to make BIA from good to great.

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Industry supply chain leaders visit BIAL cargo complex

On Friday, 13 June 2008, I had the privilege of leading a delegation of senior supply chain managers from member companies of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) on a visit of the two cargo terminals operated by Menzies Aviation Bobba (Bangalore) and Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AI-SATS) at BIAL airport.

The team comprised of senior officers of a veritable "Who is who" of Bangalore industry, and was 360 degrees in sector verticals (Automotive, Biotech, Earth Moving, Electronics, Floriculture, Garments, High Tech, Logistics providers, PCB), as well as geographic locations all around Bangalore.

Hosting us were Mr. Andrew Brant, CEO, and Mr. Kamesh Peri, Director, of Menzies, Mr. Ranjiv Ramanathan of AI-SATS, and Mr. Marcel Hungelbeuhler, COO of BIAL, along with their respective operations teams. They are all competent and committed people.

Compared to my visit of 28-Apr-2008 (read article), the progress made in the last 15 days has been astounding, reflecting the hard efforts of everyone at Menzies, AI-SATS, and BIAL.

Menzies, services the European carriers, Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Thai, and Kingfisher, while AI-SATS services Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet, Singapore, Malaysian, Emirates, Etihad amongst others.

While the Menzies terminal is definitely way ahead in terms of preparedness, AI-SATS is making rapid strides in catching up.

After a tour of the two warehouses, the team's assessment was, that AI-SATS, which was forced to commence operations in an unprepared state, should be fully functional in about 6 - 8 weeks, while Menzies-Bobba is almost fully operational.

Compared to the poor conditions at MSIL and JWG terminals at HAL airport, the new cargo terminals are definitely superior, (read article), but they need to improve to global standards.

While new concepts in cargo handling have been brought in, the team, all expert supply chain managers, some handling over 100,00 item inventories, was disappointed by the lack of quality systems and metrics with regards to traceability and handling.

The offered many expert suggestions and critical assessment to Menzies, AI-SATS, and BIAL. The reception of suggestions was encouraging, and we look forward to constantly improving services, in-line with the global reputations of both operators, and BIAL.

BIAL indicated, that they have made facilities for low cost meals that will be helpful for the numerous employees of Customs Agents, Cargo Agents, and transporters. Traffic flow issues were being addressed.

Despite the best efforts of both the cargo terminal operators, it is still taking a minimum of 2 days to clear the cargo. The two big impediments appear to be, operations of Indian Customs authorities and some airlines.

Despite, the commitment of both the Chief Commissioner and Commissioner of Customs, to industry at a meeting in early March, there is still no assessment at BIAL, only at HAL airport. Despite the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system, Customs demands physical papers, which need to be collected the day following cargo landing, and physically carried across to HAL, assessment carried out, duty paid, and then the papers again carried back to BIAL for customs inspection and release. It is painful, time consuming, and only hurts Bangalore's industry by increased time and costs. The team demanded that Customs live up to their commitments and commence assessment at BIAL immediately.

Certain airlines are not further aggravating the situation by not filing their paperwork electronically. The team requested BIAL to ban these airlines from carrying cargo.

One of the cargo operators was very insistent, on not being clubbed along with the other, in assessments. Unfortunately, the one point the cargo terminal operator missed, was the fact, that the team was the customer of their customers, the airlines. The airlines decide on which terminal operator handles their cargo, not industry. Therefore, the two operators are measured in entirety.

As Theodore Levitt said, “The true business of every company is to make customers, keep customers, and maximize customer profitability”.

The team offered a constant engagement to help Menzies, AI-SATS and BIAL, reach their potential of global standards in service, and ensure industry's profitability and by extension Bangalore's growth. The encouraging response is promising.

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