Hyderabad airport bounces back, sees uptick in air traffic movement

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) has handled more than three million domestic passengers since restarting operations after the Covid-19 lockdowns from May 25, reflecting an uptick in air traffic movement, with over 260 domestic flights and 30,000 passengers a day now. The airport has also regained 51 destinations out of the 55 domestic destinations it had before the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak.
With three new domestic destinations – Kozhikode, Imphal and Jagdalpur -- the airport is now connected to 54 destinations in the domestic sector, emerging as the second best connected airport after Delhi. GHIAL said in a statement on Monday that the airport saw passenger footfalls increasing to over 30,000 a day during November from about 3,000 domestic passengers a day in the first few weeks after domestic operations recommenced from May 25.

The airport said it had handled over 3 million domestic passengers from the day of recommencement till November 23. The Indian aviation sector is gaining strength steadily with the relaxation of quarantine norms by both the Central and state governments under Unlock 5.0, said the airport, adding that it was making air travel the safest way to travel and setting up a new Covid-19 testing facility. Hyderabad has also seen uptick in the Air Traffic Movement (ATM) from about 40 daily ATMs in the first few weeks of the restart to over six times growth, having handled over 260 domestic flights daily in November. Over 35,000 domestic flights were handled from the day of recommencement till November 23. The airport said the top 5 destinations have remained the metro cities - Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. While the airport observed unidirectional traffic due to pent-up demand initially, the demand is now gradually back to both-ways.

“With the government allowing the airlines to operate 70% of their pre-Covid-19 capacity, GMR Hyderabad International Airport is all geared up for the safe travel of passengers with many contact-less initiatives at the airport,” said a spokesperson of GHIAL. “With the steady increase in traffic in line with Hyderabad’s economic resurgence, we are hopeful that we will soon reach the pre-Covid-19 level in terms of operations."