Kempegowda International Airport (IATA: BLR, ICAO: VOBL) is an international airport serving Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, India. Spread over 4,000 acres (1,600 ha), it is located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of the city near the suburb of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public–private consortium. The airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to increased congestion at HAL Airport, the original primary commercial airport serving the city. It is named after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bangalore. Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka's first fully solar powered airport developed by CleanMax Solar. Kempegowda International Airport is the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic, air traffic movements and domestic and total cargo handled in India, behind the airports in Delhi and Mumbai, and is the 29th busiest airport in Asia. In the FY 2021–22, the airport handled around 16.2 million passengers and 411,550 tonnes (453,660 short tons) of cargo. The airport offers connecting flights to all six inhabited continents, and direct flights to five of them. The airport has two passenger terminals that handles both domestic and international operations, and two runways, the second of which was commissioned on 6 December 2019. The second terminal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022 and began domestic operations in January 2023. It will handle international operations from 2023. There is also a cargo village and three cargo terminals. The airport serves as a hub for AIX Connect, Alliance Air, Go First, IndiGo, Star Air and DHL Aviation and is a focus city for Air India and SpiceJet. The airport was recognised as the best airport (25 to 40 million passengers per annum) in Asia-Pacific in 2020 by Airports Council International.
