GMR Hyderabad International Airport saw the number of passengers in a single day touching a post-lockdown high of 37,000 for domestic operations in November as people seem to gain more confidence in air travel and relaxation of quarantine norms by the Central and the State governments.
From about 3,000 domestic passengers daily in the first few weeks post recommencement of domestic operations from May 25 onwards, the passenger footfall has now increased to over 30,000 daily. In total, over three million domestic passengers were handled till November 23. December holiday month could see the numbers rise further, said an official spokesman on Monday.
The Air Traffic Movement (ATM) from about 40 daily has jumped to over 260 domestic flights daily with over 35,000 domestic flights handled. Highest ATM has been 284 mark on a single day. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) now handles up to 54 domestic destinations including new domestic destinations of Kozhikode, Imphal and Jagdalpur.
International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global airline trade group representing 290 carriers in 120 countries came out with a report demonstrating the low incidence of inflight COVID-19 transmission. “Risk of a passenger contracting COVID-19 while onboard appears very low. With only 44 identified potential cases of flight-related transmission among 1.2 billion travellers, that’s one case for every 27 million travellers. Even if 90% of cases were unreported, it would be one case for every 2.7 million travellers. The vast majority of published cases occurred before the wearing of face coverings in flight became widespread,” claimed its medical advisor Dr. David Powell.
Top five destinations during post-covid continue to be Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The city offers direct connections to Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and even the North East. Top three airlines also have no major change — IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India. An onsite coronavirus testing laboratory run by Mapmygenome, an ICMR and NABL certified lab, is functional round the clock at the immigration level or Interim International Departures Terminal for passengers and airport personnel benefit.
“E-boarding services to international flights had also become functional. With steady increase in traffic in line with the city’s economic resurgence, we are hopeful of reaching the pre-Covid level in terms of operations,” the spokesman added.
