15%increase in passenger traffic from Vizag airport in 2018-19

: Visakhapatnam airport registered a 15 per cent increase in passenger traffic in 2018-19 with about 28.53 lakh people travelling from there,the Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers Association said here Thursday.

The Association in a statement said about 28.53 lakh passengers traveled from the Airport during the period compared to 24.81 lakh in the 2017-18 fiscal.

However the association expressed concern over high air fares.

It said there was a 21 per cent increase in aircraft movement in 2018-19 with about 24,237 registered from the airport, compared to 20,021 in the corresponding year in fiscal 2017-18.

Currently 60 flight movements per day are being operated from the airport in spite of the withdrawal of Jet Airways and shortage of aircraft due to various reasons.

Domestic cargo handled in the airport saw a 24 per cent growth in FY 2018-19, the association said.

Around 6,013 tons of cargo was handled for FY 2018-19 against 4,845 tons in the corresponding period of 2017-18.

The Association said it is concerned with high air fares since several airlines have cancelled operations due to various reasons, including grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft, despite summer vacation for education institutions resulting in increased demand.

APATA said it has decided to take up the matter with the Civil aviation ministry for necessary measures.

All 737 MAX aircraft have been banned from the world's skies since days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10.

The DGCA recently asked Airlines to reduce fares on 10 domestic routes to reasonable levels.