Traffic back to pre-pandemic levels at seven Adani airports

MUMBAI: With more routes and airports opening up, seven airports run by Adani Group have reported an increase of 92% in domestic and 133% in international travellers. There has been a rise in the number of domestic flights by 58% and international flights by 61%.

Air traffic jumped by around 100% when compared to the previous year, taking the number to pre-pandemic levels with more than 14.25 million passengers using these airports over last year. This upward trend is expected to continue and it is anticipated that the number of trips people will take in a year will increase.

One of the factors driving this growth is the restart of tourism after the Covid pandemic, a press note issued by the group said.

“Being the second busiest airport in the country, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport recorded passenger movement of nearly 8.44 million travellers in January and February this year. The airport witnessed nearly 2.22 million international and 6.22 million domestic passengers,” the release read.

The first two months of this year also saw a huge rush at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. It recorded 1.74 million domestic passengers flying in and out. The international airport recorded 283,379 travellers.

Jaipur was the 11th busiest airport in the country. Jaipur International Airport (JIAL) recorded passenger movement of nearly 0.95 million. Exhibiting a significant growth, the airport witnessed nearly 69,300 international and around 0.88 million domestic passengers, the release said.

Being the busiest airport in Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport recorded nearly 1.04 million passenger movements in both the months. The CCSIA witnessed a fruitful first two months with nearly 136,880 international and around 9.03 lakh domestic passengers.

Considered the gateway to Northeast India, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport has flights to and from 32 domestic and two international destinations. It recorded a footfall of 902,694 passengers, witnessing a sharp increase from the corresponding months last year. Thiruvananthapuram recorded 299,850 and 299,770 domestic and international footfalls, respectively. The airport has connectivity to 10 domestic and 12 international destinations. Mangaluru saw an increased traffic of 209,713 domestic and 84,356 international travellers.

Both CSMIA and CCSIA handled record passenger movement on a single day. While Mumbai recorded around 1,51,543 passengers on February 25, 2023, Lucknow witnessed over 18,000 passengers on 31 January 2023 transiting through the airports.