Hari Marar, MD & CEO BIAL – Keynote interview, throwing bytes not bricks
At Aviation Festival Asia, Hari Marar, Managing Director & CEO at Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) joined Henry Harteveldt on stage for a keynote interview. The discussion explored the challenges and advantages of being a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) airport, BIAL’s hospitality mindset, digital transformation within a global tech hub, biometrics concerns, and the growth of India’s aviation industry.
Throughout the interview, the customer was emphasised as BIAL’s priority. Explaining the benefits of being a PPP airport, Hari demonstrated how this structure enables them to keep the customer at the centre of development, facilitating the airport’s “hospitality flavour.” Hari also highlighted how the concept of hospitality within the airport forms a key point of differentiation, delivering a seamless, convenient, memorable experience for passengers whilst generating additional revenue.
The conversation also dissected BIAL’s digital transformation, with Hari positioning technology as a way to maximise existing infrastructure. This approach was succinctly condensed by the airport’s CEO, finding “not always throwing bricks at it but sometimes throwing bytes at it is a better way to extract better capacity.” Furthermore, technology was identified as a means to enhance efficiency, passenger experience, and non-aeronautical revenues.
For this and more, watch the full 15-minute interview below.
To see more from Hari Marar see “Terminal in a Garden,” the airport terminal built on the key pillars of Technology and Sustainability. An interview with Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL)