Hyderabad: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport daily footfalls jump to 30,000

Shamshabad: The daily passenger footfall at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has crossed 30,000 in November, a 10-fold increase since the re-commencement of domestic operations from May 25 after Covid-19 induced lockdown.

As the passenger footfall grows steadily and confidence in air travel is rising, the worst has passed and the operations are normalising, airport operator GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) said on Monday.

The number of domestic passengers in a single day touched 37,000 mark recently, the highest since the recommencement of domestic operations. The Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) also crossed 284 mark in a single day during November. The airport handled over three million domestic passengers from the day of recommencement till November 23.

"Crossing the three million passenger mark is a testimony to the growing passenger confidence in air travel. With the government allowing the airlines to operate 70 per cent of their pre-Covid capacity, GMR Hyderabad International Airport is all geared up for the safe travel of passengers with many contact-less initiatives at the airport," a spokesperson of the airport operator said.

"The concern of access to RT-PCR test reports is also addressed with the recent launch of Covid testing facility at the airport. With the steady increase in traffic in line with Hyderabad's economic resurgence, we are hopeful that we will soon reach the pre-Covid level in terms of operations," the spokesperson added. Over 35,000 domestic flights were handled from the day of recommencement till November 23. The airport was handling 550 air traffic movements and about 60,000 passengers daily before Covid-19 induced lockdown came into effect in March.

The airport has regained its 51 destinations out of pre-Covid 55 domestic destinations. With three new domestic destinations - Kozhikode, Imphal and Jagdalpur, RGIA is now connected to 54 destinations in the domestic sector.