The Visakhapatnam International Airport has become the 21st busiest airport in the country, considering the number of passenger footfalls (International and domestic) during December 2022, according to the statistics released by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
In total, 2,45,648 passengers travelled to and from Visakhapatnam in December 2022 when compared to 2,02,891 during the same month in 2021, registering a growth of 21.1%. The passenger footfalls at Visakhapatnam airport in December 2022 were higher than that at the airports in Nagpur, Coimbatore, Trichy and Port Blair.
Even though the number of passengers at Coimbatore and Trichy is less than that of Visakhapatnam, the percentage of change at those places, compared to December 2021 was 71.1% at Trichy and 24.3% at Coimbatore. This is attributed to the introduction of new flights from these places, including the international services.
The pre-COVID footfall at Visakhapatnam airport, which was 28,53,390 during the 2018-19 financial year, had marginally declined to 26,91,581 during the next fiscal due to the pandemic effect and cancellation of flights. A couple of international flights which were withdrawn during the pandemic are yet to be restored.
Of the 2,45,648 passengers handled by Vizag airport in December 2022, flights to Hyderabad and Bengaluru took the largest chunk, with 61,993 travelling to Hyderabad and 61,484 travelling to Bengaluru. “A number of techies from Vizag are employed in Bengaluru and this explains the huge demand for flights. The footfalls have increased after the increase in the number of flights to Bengaluru,” says Ravi Teja, a software professional hailing from Vizag, who works in Bengaluru.
The next highest number of 49,312 passengers travelled from Vizag to New Delhi. This is also due to the increase in the number of flights to the national capital. This is followed by Chennai with 23,021 passengers, Mumbai with 16,214 passengers and Kolkata with 9,819 passengers.
“There is a demand for more flights to Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata. Many tourists from West Bengal travel to Vizag, especially between December and February. Introduction of early morning flights from Kolkata to Vizag and late night flights to Kolkata will see a surge in demand from passengers,” says Mr. Ravi Teja.
“The Air India flight to Dubai, which was withdrawn during the pandemic, should be restored. The Dubai flight had a good occupancy,” he says.
Meanwhile, Batik Air has announced operation of its flight between Vizag and Kuala Lumpur, tentatively from March 28, this year.
