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Kempegowda International Airport (ICAO: VOBL, IATA: BLR) is the principal gateway to Bengaluru, Karnataka's capital, situated at Devanahalli some 35 km north of the city centre. Opened in 2008 as a replacement for the congested HAL Airport, it is now the third-busiest airport in India, handling both domestic and international traffic. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot, it offers a full range of radar and tower services alongside a long, ILS-equipped runway.
Kempegowda International Airport serves Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, and is operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public-private consortium. It opened in May 2008 as an alternative to the increasingly congested HAL Airport and was renamed in 2013 after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bengaluru. It is now the third-busiest airport in India, behind Delhi and Mumbai, making it a major hub for airline and cargo operations and a significant destination for any simulator pilot flying in southern India.
The airport lies near the suburb of Devanahalli in Bengaluru Rural district, about 35 km north of Bengaluru city centre. As a major international hub, it operates within controlled airspace with a dedicated approach service, and pilots inbound will work Bengaluru Approach before being handed to Tower for the final approach and landing.
The airport has one physical runway, 09L/27R, a hard-surfaced, lit runway measuring approximately 13,099 ft (09L) and 13,098 ft (27R), equipped with ILS at both ends. Field elevation is 2,963 ft.
Radio services include Approach on 121.25 MHz, ATIS on 128.675 MHz, Delivery on 121.82 MHz, Surface Movement Control (SMC) on 121.65 MHz, and Tower on 124.35 MHz. The runway is equipped with ILS, supporting instrument approaches in addition to visual operations.
Planning for a new airport to serve Bengaluru began in the early 1990s, when the original HAL Airport, established in 1942 and located just 5 km from the city centre, became too constrained for further expansion despite growing domestic and international traffic. A site at Devanahalli, about 30 km north of the city, was selected in 1991, and after years of negotiation between the Airports Authority of India, the Karnataka State Government and various private consortia, a concession agreement was signed in July 2004 requiring the closure of HAL Airport. The new airport, then known as Bengaluru International Airport, opened on 24 May 2008. It was renamed Kempegowda International Airport on 14 December 2013, in honour of the city's founder, Kempe Gowda I, coinciding with the inauguration of an expanded terminal building. A second runway was commissioned on 6 December 2019, and a second passenger terminal was inaugurated on 11 November 2022.
Kempegowda International Airport is Karnataka's first fully solar-powered airport and now ranks as the third-busiest in India by traffic, handling over 44 million passengers and more than half a million tonnes of cargo in the most recent financial year reported. It serves as a hub for Air India, Alliance Air, DHL Aviation, FedEx Express and Star Air, and as an operating base for Air India Express, Akasa Air and IndiGo. The airport includes a cargo village with three cargo terminals and an on-site fuel farm supplied by a dedicated pipeline.
