HAL Bangalore International Airport (IATA: BLR, ICAO: VOBG), also known as HAL Airport or Hindustan Airport, is the domestic and international airport serving Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It is the fourth busiest airport in India. It handled an estimated 7.5 million passengers a year as of 2006 and an average of at least 300 flights (take-offs and landings) per day, earning an estimated Rs 1-1.5 billion in landing and aircraft parking fees from scheduled airlines. The airport is scheduled to be replaced by the new Bangalore International Airport on April 2, 2008.
The airport is maintained by Hindustan Aeronautics which uses it to test and develop aircraft for the Indian Armed Forces. Manufacturing and overhauling of such aircraft has averaged nearly one per day (on a company-wide, All-India basis) over the 40 year life span of the firm. Thus this activity, per se, may not have posed an insuperable barrier to the rapid growth of civilian air traffic at HAL airport. However, rapid growth of traffic at Bangalore Airport has had some (so far relatively minor) impact on military training flight schedules at the Indian Air Force base of Yelahanka, a scant 17 km away. Bangalore airport gives priority to civilian flight movements.
Airlines and destinations
Domestic
* Air India (Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram)
* Go Air (Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai, Hyderabad)
* IndiGo Airlines (Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata)
* Jet Airways (Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Kolkata, Mangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram)
* Jet Lite (Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Pune)
* Kingfisher Airlines (Agartala, Agatti, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Goa, Guwahati, Hubli, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jammu, Kochi, Kolkata, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Puttaparthi, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Tiruchirapalli, Varanasi)
* Paramount Airways (Chennai, Hyderabad, Madurai, Vishakapatnam)
* Simplifly Deccan (Ahmedabad, Belgaum, Bellary, Calicut, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hampi, Hubli, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Vizag, Vijayawada)
* SpiceJet (Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad)
International
* Air Arabia (Sharjah)
* Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
* Air India (Dubai, Frankfurt, Male, Muscat, Sharjah, Singapore)
* British Airways (London-Heathrow)
* Emirates (Dubai)
* Gulf Air (Bahrain)
* Jet Airways (Brussels [from May 2008])
* Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
* Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
* Nok Air (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
* Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
* SriLankan Airlines (Colombo)
* Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
Land side structure
There are separate check in sections for domestic and international departures, and separate sections for domestic and international arrivals. The airport has 2 aerobridges and preference on using the aerobridges is given to international flights.
HAL Airport is relatively close to the city centre (12 km). A taxi ride from the airport to the city centre, in peak hour traffic takes between 1/2 - 1 hour.
Domestic
The domestic departures section is on the left side of the airport (East side), while the domestic & international arrivals is on the right side of the airport (West side).
Departures
For domestic departures, check in is located at two ends of the terminal - Gate 1 - for Indian Airlines, Go Air and Kingfisher Airlines, while Gate 2 gives access to Jet Airways, Air Deccan, Spice Jet, Jagsons, Air Sahara and Paramount.
There is generally a huge queue for baggage screening (the queue forms outside the terminal for Go Air and Air Deccan); once through baggage screening you proceed to the check-in counters.
The domestic departures terminal has a book shop, a couple of phone booths, a snack shop, post office and limited seating area. The first floor restaurant is a popular place to sit down with a beer while awaiting a flight.
Arrivals
There are 3 baggage belts which are shared by all the airlines that use this terminal.International
Departures
International Departure is now located on the ground floor of the airport. In 2006, there was a revamp and extension of the International departures part of the airport. There are 2-3 baggage X-Ray machines. Once check in has been completed, passengers take an escalator to the first floor and pass through immigration. Following immigration, passengers pass through customs control (which is optional), and then go through security screening. Once past security screening, passengers move to the gate hold area - which is common to all international departures, and has very limited seating. The gate area has a coffee shop and curio shop, and completely fills up during peak departure times (10 pm to 1:30 am every night).
As of October 2006, there is often a long line to get into the international departures terminal of the airport during late-night peak hours. Once past the checked-in baggage x-ray - there is a queue for checking in. Many airlines such as British Airways have "Fast Bag Drop" counters for passengers who have previously checked in online prior to arrival at the airport. This reduces waiting time considerably. Once past check-in, passengers typically pass through immigration in 5-10 minutes, though in cases where the hand baggage security screening after immigration is required, it can take an extra 20-30 minutes. In order to account for all these delays, passengers are advised to arrive at the airport 3 hours prior to departure if they have not checked in online or 2 hours prior to departure if they have already checked in.
The international departures section does not have a lounge for Business or First Class passengers. Air France ask all premium customers to check-in at the Leela Palace Kempinski Hotel near by, and use the hotel facilities as a pre-departure lounge.
In 2001 - 2002 a major Revamp of the International Departure was conducted. the Staff were given training in English and Customer Service. The Immigration counters were spruced up and this resulted in a smoother happier and quicker movement of passengers.
Arrivals
International arrivals starts on the first floor with the immigration counters. Once done with immigration, passengers take an escalator down to the baggage belts, but must first get all hand-baggage screened (x-ray) by the customs department. There are 2 baggage belts, but space is limited and the whole baggage claim area is cramped. There is also a duty free counter and a money exchange service in the same area. After collecting baggage, passengers pass through customs control, and out to the pre-paid taxi counter (run by the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation).
Passengers connecting to domestic flights need to collect their bags, pass through customs, exit from the international arrivals, and turn right to the domestic departures area. The international and domestic terminals are all in the same building, hence connecting is very convenient.