KIA reconnects to most international destinations and adds new ones

Most of Bengaluru’s flights that were cancelled due to COVID-19 are now connected to other foreign destinations. Additionally, brand-new foreign routes that weren’t in operation before COVID-19 have been added.

Prior to COVID-19, there were 25 international connections from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), and there were often 40 international departures each day.

The Middle East region, which includes Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Muscat, Riyadh, and Sharjah, received the majority of the flights, with the South East Asian region coming in second.

In addition to four flights to the European cities of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, and Paris, flights were run from the South East Asian region to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Don Mueang, and Phuket.

The Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa was connected to Bengaluru by a lone aircraft from Africa. Colombo, Male, Mauritius, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, and San Francisco via Delhi were the other destinations.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, international flight operations were halted, leaving only repatriation flights—operated by the Vande Bharat mission and Air Bubble flights—to bring Indian nationals who were living abroad home.

With the exception of Mauritius, most of these places are currently served by aircraft.

Newly added flights include those operated by Japan Airlines and Qantas to Sydney and Tokyo, respectively.

Air India will operate three weekly flights to Tel Aviv, and American Airlines will operate daily flights to Seattle, according to information previously provided by BIAL.

In the final three months of this year, United Airlines intends to start operating daily flights to San Francisco.

Additionally, the Bengaluru-San Francisco flight service that Air India discontinued will resume. The three times weekly flight will resume operations on December 15.

The German airline Lufthansa had previously stated that it would begin offering direct service between Bengaluru and Munich in the summer of 2020, before the COVID-19 outbreak. Service on this route has been delayed, though.

The economy has largely recovered, there is an increase in international traffic, and domestic traffic has already reached pre-pandemic levels. Because of the two-year gap, people are still travelling despite the expensive air rates, according to an aviation expert.