Delhi airport sees surge in passenger share after resumption of flights

It attained 23% domestic passenger share during the first nine weeks, says DIAL

Passengers at the IGI Airport. File

Delhi airport said on Thursday that its share of passengers relative to other airports in the country has surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels.

In a press note, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said that during the first nine weeks since resumption of domestic flights its share of total domestic passengers rose to 23%, which was 5% more than pre-COVID-19 level.

Similarly, its share in the international passenger chunk also rose from 27% to 36%.

However, in absolute terms, the total number of monthly footfall is far below what it used to be until February, i.e. two lakh per month.

Domestic operations resumed on May 25, after a ban of two months. International flights, which were banned on March 22, are yet to resume fully as the government has only allowed international flights to and from countries like France, Germany, US, UAE and Kuwait under a bilateral agreement with each.

The rise in share of domestic passengers at the Delhi airport could be because it’s a hub for many stranded passengers trying to return to northern parts of the country, as well as due to easier quarantine norms for incoming passengers as compared to other States and Union Territories.

The increase in the share of international passengers for Delhi is largely because of many of the repatriation flights under Vande Bharat and those by other countries being operated from and to Delhi.