A.P. airports see 60% jump in domestic passenger footfall

Tirupati records 113% rise; Kadapa sees a decline of 65%

Andhra Pradesh registered a 60% rise in domestic air passenger traffic with a footfall of 24.74 lakh at the five airports during the 2021-22 fiscal (up to January 2022) compared to the 15.48 lakh footfall in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Four of the five airports in the State witnessed at least a 50% rise in the domestic footfall during the current fiscal year between April 2021 and January 2022, including during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the latest air traffic data reports of the Airports Authority of India, Tirupati airport witnessed a 113.2% rise in footfall as 4.85 lakh passengers commuted through the airport while only 2.27 lakh passengers commuted via the airport in the corresponding period of the 2020-21 fiscal. Tirupati airport also surpassed the passenger footfall of Vijayawada International Airport.

Similarly, Visakhapatnam airport registered a 56.54% rise in domestic passenger traffic with 12.91 lakh footlfall, Rajahmundry airport registered a 51.27% rise with 2.26 lakh passengers and Vijayawada airport registered a 47.13% rise with 4.58 lakh passengers. Kadapa airport, meanwhile, registered a 64.89% fall in passenger traffic with a footfall of only 12,078 flyers.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the State in 2020, Visakhapatnam airport witnessed a footfall of 25.3 lakh passengers, Vijayawada airport witnessed 11.25 lakh footfall, Tirupati airport witnessed 8.34 lakh footfall, Rajahmundry airport witnessed 4.09 lakh footfall and Kadapa airport 1.08 lakh footfall in the 2019-2020 fiscal.

Meanwhile, there was a decline in international air traffic at the airports in the State. Visakhapatnam airport witnessed a footfall of 7,558 international passengers in 2020-21 between April and January; the passenger footfall was only 601 in 21-22. Similarly, Vijayawada airport which handled most of the State's international flights during the pandemic has witnessed 35,750 passengers in 2021-22 against 58,603 passengers in the 2020-21 fiscal year up to January.

Freight traffic has increased by 47.37% at the Vijayawada airport as 1,988 tonnes of goods were transported through dedicated cargo flights and belly cargo of various passenger flights up to January in the current fiscal year. At Visakhapatnam airport, 3,300 tonnes of goods were transported during the same period registering only 18.83% rise.