Bucking the trend, airports in Kerala now paint a new picture of air traffic with domestic passengers outnumbering international flyers.
With a huge overseas diaspora, the number of international flyers from Kerala was significantly higher than domestic passengers until recently. The shift in the category of passengers flying out has become more visible lately.
In the first eight months of this calendar year, domestic flyers outnumbered international passengers at the Thiruvananthapuram airport in all months except January..
During the pre-pandemic period, of the 100 passengers transited through the Thiruvananthapuram airport, 56 were international and 44 were domestic passengers compared to 65:35 in 2016-17.
At the Cochin international airport, domestic flyers outnumbered international flyers for the first time in 2018-19 and in 2019-20. Though the ratio of domestic and international flyers through the Cochin airport is around 50:50 after the pandemic, the capital airport made a big leap in the domestic category. At the Calicut international airport, the number of international passengers is higher than domestic flyers.
According to airport officials, there are mainly two reasons for the growth of domestic flyers. Firstly, Keralites have commenced travelling by flight, even for shorter distances inside the country, in proportion to the rise in their income.
Secondly, Mumbai has emerged as an affordable transit location for flyers from Kerala, although direct flights are available to West Asia from Kerala. For instance, airlines used to jack up fares to Kerala during peak travel times following high demand for tickets. Now, a ticket from Dubai to Mumbai costs around half of the direct flight to Kerala. As a result, a good number of flyers are opting for a connection flight via Mumbai to West Asia from southern Kerala.
Now, the Thiruvananthapuram airport has increased its daily flights to Mumbai from three to seven following a huge increase in transit passengers via Mumbai.
A recent comparison of airfares from Thiruvananthapuram with those from Mumbai has revealed that those who take a flight to West Asia from Mumbai need to pay less than half of the airfare from Thiruvananthapuram, even during peak times when the demand for tickets soars. Despite repeated calls from the State, airlines are not ready to bring a price cap during peak seasons.
