Air passenger traffic: 21.7 per cent jump April this year over corresponding month last year

Passenger traffic in Indian airports in April registered a growth of 21.7 per cent over the corresponding month last year, latest figures by the Airport Authority of India said.

Domestic traffic grew by 25 per cent and international traffic by 10.2 per cent in April, with the overall passenger movement being recorded at 28.22 million, the AAI said.

Smaller towns which benefitted from the regional connectivity scheme of the government have also started contributing to the overall growth passenger traffic growth.

Places such as Shillong, Shimla, Bhatinda, Ludhiana, Bhuntar, Pathankot, Mysore, Salem, among others, saw a good number of passenger traffic movement in April as opposed to the corresponding period last year.

Passenger movement in Mysore shot up to 3,598 in April from almost nowhere. In Bhatinda, the growth was an impressive 382.5 per cent, with 4,203 passengers travelling in April as opposed to only 871 during the corresponding period last year.

The growth in Shimla was a staggering 549.4 per cent, with 1,117 in April as against 172 only during the same period last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off the first flight from there in April last year under the regional connectivity scheme.

Talking abouut the passenger traffic growth in terms of both domestic and international travels, Vijayawada and Tirupati witnessed over 70 per cent jump in the figures in April as opposed to the same period last year.

The growth in Varanasi stood at over 52 per cent, more than 47 per cent in Bhubaneswar and above 43 per cent in Mangalore.

According to the AAI, during April, the total freight at all Indian airports stood at 284.33 thousand MT, reflecting a growth of 6.1 per cent over the corresponding month of previous year. Of this percentage, the growth in international freight stood at 4.6 per cent and domestic freight at 9 per cent.