Bengaluru, Feb 7 : Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport), the third busiest Airport in India, has emerged as the preferred transfer hub for South India, a Bengaluru International Airport Authority Limited (BIAL) release said on Monday. Currently, BLR Airport serves 74 domestic destinations (in CY 2021), the highest ever since airport opening date, as compared to 54 routes during pre-Covid and is also the highest amongst South Indian Airports. These additions have mainly been to non-metro destinations, and as a result, flights to non-metro routes have shown a considerable increase from 58 per cent (pre-COVID) to 63 per cent in CY 2021. Moreover, between Q1 and Q4 of 2021, traffic on non-metro routes increased by 27 per cent, reinforcing strong demand on these city-pairs. During the CY 2021, nearly 19 per cent of traffic at BLR Airport comprised transfer passengers as against 10 per cent pre-Covid. The major airports contributing to high volumes of transfer passengers at BLR Airport were Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad and Goa. Apart from the increase in non-metro connectivity, the geographical location of Bengaluru and the growing economy of the State of Karnataka has helped in positioning BLR as the major aviation gateway of South and Central India. BLR Airport offers a wide catchment area of 23 cities within a convenient flying time of 75 mins. This, coupled with growth in non-metro connectivity, has helped in building the transfer traffic market at BLR Airport. The transfer traffic flow has helped in strengthening loads on other domestic and international routes as well. Moreover, with this catchment area serving a population of 256 million people (i.e., 1/5th of India's population), BLR Airport is leading the growth story of the region. In addition, to cater to growing transfer numbers, BLR Airport has further augmented two of its existing transfer zones by creating an additional lane for smooth transfer of passengers. "With the opening of Terminal 2, we expect to add to our transfer experience and look forward to developing BLR Airport as the New Gateway to India," the release stated. /IANS