With the surge in the number of COIVD-19 cases, the air passenger traffic has been on the decline in Chennai. There has been a significant dip in the number of flights operated and passenger traffic in domestic flights for more than a week now.
For the last five months, air traffic was recovering with the Chennai airport registering nearly 20% increase in December with thousands of people flying out for vacation and to meet friends and family.
Fall in numbers
Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the number of domestic flights had dropped.Last month, the airport recorded a maximum of 250 flights a day with about 35,000-40,000 travellers. This number fell to 200 flights and 22,000-23,000 passengers.
Few fliers
“The flight schedules have changed with airlines reducing the number of flights as there are very few takers for some flights. Ever since the COVID-19 cases began to be on an upward trajectory early this month, we started noticing a dip. It is not clear how long this is likely to last as it depends on the increase or decrease in the number of cases.,” an official added.
