MIA registers massive growth in passenger traffic in August

Mangaluru, Sep 3 (PTI) With the re-opening of airports in various states following an improvement in the Covid-19 situation, the domestic passenger traffic from Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) has shown a massive growth in August as compared to July.

The latest data shows that 26,067 passengers took flights from MIA for travel within the country in August as against 18,557 departures in July, showing a jump of 40.5 per cent, a release from the MIA said.

Similarly, 26,732 passengers arrived in August at MIA from domestic destinations as compared to 19,744 passengers in July, a rise of 35.4 per cent.

Industry sources say with the easing of travel curbs within India and abroad, various airlines are re-starting flights from MIA to various destinations, resulting in the healthy rise in traffic.

The traffic is expected to increase further in the coming months with the start of the festival season beginning September 10.

While Air India has increased the frequency of its daily flights to Mumbai and Coimbatore, its subsidiary Air India Express has re-started flights to various cities in the Middle East in August.

Indigo has re-started its flights to Sharjah after the UAE government allowed travel to the country. Similarly, Air India Express re-started its flights to Abu Dhabi with the increase in passenger flow from MIA.

Indigo has also started an additional flight to Hyderabad as traffic picked up substantially across India.

The passenger flow is expected to improve in the coming weeks as more destinations re-open in the Middle East and with the launch of rapid RT-PCR test facilities at the MIA.

The new destinations in August from MIA included Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Thiruvananthapuram by Air India Express, Hyderabad and Sharjah by IndiGo and dDaily flights to Mumbai and Coimbatore by Air India, the release said. PTI MVG SS SS