Visakhapatnam International Airport has recorded an impressive growth in the passenger traffic and cargo in the just concluded financial year.
The airport recorded 15% growth in passenger traffic in 2018-19 fiscal when compared to the previous financial year.
Around 28.53 lakh passengers had travelled from the city airport when compared to the 24.81 lakh in the 2017-18 fiscal. The aircraft movements has also recorded a growth 21 % with about 24,237 movements from the airport as against the 20,021 last fiscal.
On an average around 60 flights are moving in and out of Visakhapatnam daily, despite of the withdrawal of Jet Airways and shortage of aircraft due to various reasons.
The domestic cargo handled at the city airport also registered 24 % growth in 2018-19 with 6,013 tonnes when compared to the 4,845 tonnes handled last fiscal.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers Association (APATA) leaders K. Kumar Raja, O. Naresh Kumar and D.S. Varma expressed concern at the steep hike in air fare owing to the cancellation of services by several airlines for various reasons, including the grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The cancellations coming during the summer vacation was causing a hardship to passengers.
More flights sought
“We will take up the issue with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and seek introduction of more flights in tune with the growing demand. The DGCA has recently asked the airline companies to reduce fares on 10 domestic routes to reasonable levels,” they added.
