Hyderabad, Jun 27 (IANS): Hyderabad International Airport had the highest international passenger recovery, during 2021-22 compared to other metro airports in India.
During April 2021-March 2022, Hyderabad Airport's recovery in the domestic segment was at par with Delhi International Airport.
According to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), the airport witnessed steady increase in passenger footfall and Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) over the last few months.
With the ease of international travel restrictions as well as the gradual recovery of the Covid-19 pandemic, air travel has been steadily increasing with domestic and international travel picking up across India.
The Hyderabad Airport witnessed over 15 lakh domestic passengers and around 2.7 lakh international travelers, last month. The domestic traffic recovery of the airport was 93 per cent of pre-Covid level and international traffic recovery was 86 per cent during May.
"Hyderabad Airport has seen a rise in passenger footfall. There seems to be a gradual rebound in aviation travel with declining Covid cases and increasing numbers of vaccinated travellers. With many countries easing restrictions and opening up skies to travellers, we are hopeful that the momentum will continue to sustain," said Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GHIAL.
The number of daily domestic passengers handled at Hyderabad Airport crossed 53,000 on May 15 and this is about 103 per cent of pre-Covid daily average domestic traffic. The airport also recorded the highest number of post-Covid domestic ATMs of 401 on May 15. This is 89 of pre-Covid traffic.
On June 10, the number of international passengers crossed 10,000 in the international passenger segment. This is the highest ever post Covid international passenger number at Hyderabad.
Top growth sectors from Hyderabad (domestic) were Delhi (Metro) and Goa (Non-Metro while the top growth sector in the international segment was Dubai in the Middle East and Singapore in the Asia Pacific.
The airport operator claimed that post-Covid growth in the destinations being connected has been remarkable and in the last few months. It added 15 new domestic sectors. Hyderabad is now connected to over 70 domestic destinations against 55 domestic destinations in the pre-Covid period.
The UDAN initiative, which is aimed to bolster the regional connectivity by connecting underserved/unserved airports in Tier II-Tier III cities has further boosted the connectivity across India. Recently under this initiative, Hyderabad Airport introduced new routes to Gulbarga and Hubbali.
With International travel resuming, Hyderabad airport is now connected to its earlier favourite destinations like London, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Qatar, Sharjah, Doha and Kuwait. Except for Hong Kong, all the earlier international destinations are now connected to Hyderabad.
The city also added flights to new international destinations such as Chicago and the Maldives. Recently Thai Smile Airlines resumed direct Hyderabad-Bangkok flights. Further, AirAsia Berhad also resumed its Hyderabad- Kuala Lumpur flights recently.
"We are all set to give an enhanced passenger service and enable smoother airport operations with the first phase of the expansion all set to commence services. Efforts are on to connect Hyderabad to more destinations across India and the globe," said Pradeep.