BIAL eyes direct flights from Bengaluru to South Korea

The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), operator of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), is planning to expand its international connectivity to a couple of destinations in Asia Pacific (APAC) region and Europe.

Girish Nair, chief operating officer, BIAL, said, “We are looking at a couple of long haul destinations in the APAC region of which one is a destination in South Korea.”

“There is a good demand for South Korea, especially with Kia (South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer). I am surprised how we still do not have flights from Bengaluru to South Korea because the numbers are really good,” Mr. Nair told The Hindu.

Proximity to Kia

The BIAL is looking to cash in on the airports’ proximity to Kia’s manufacturing plant near Penukonda in Andhra Pradesh and the closest international airport to Penukonda is KIA, which is a little over 100 km by road.

Mr. Nair also said that BIAL has had discussions with a few international airlines to start operations to a couple of European cities.

“In Europe, there are a couple of destinations where we feel we need connectivity. We have some meetings lined up, and we will announce it when it is done,” he said.

At present, Bengaluru is connected to five European cities: London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Munich with flights operated by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and Lufthansa.

As of December 31, 2025, the KIA was connected to 34 international cities.

In 2025, new international routes were added to Dammam, Ho Chi Minh City, Krabi, Hanoi and Riyadh.

Connectivity to U.S.

Connectivity to the U.S. has not really taken off from Bengaluru as American carriers have not been able to operate direct flights from U.S. cities to Bengaluru due to ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In February 2020, American Airlines had announced the launch of a Seattle-Bengaluru flight service scheduled to commence in October 2020. Later, the United Airlines announced that it would be starting a direct flight service between Bengaluru and San Francisco by spring 2021.

But, the COVID-19 outbreak led to postponement of the services and later Russian invasion of Ukraine impacted their plans to start flight services to Bengaluru.

Air India, which is the only airline to operate from Bengaluru to the U.S., has also announced that it would be discontinuing the Bengaluru-San Francisco direct flight from March 1.

“American airlines are still looking at India very seriously, but till the time the airspace closure gets settled we may not be able to start flights. There are a couple of American carriers who are talking to us. I don’t want to name them, but right now the environment is not very conducive for them to start direct flights,” Mr. Nair said.