In the last year and a half, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on air travel around Andhra Pradesh. The busiest airport in the state, Visakhapatnam airport, has also been affected by this. The second wave of the pandemic this year brought a halt to travel of any kind and airlines as well as airport authorities suffered losses. But now that the second wave has subsided, air travel is rapidly growing back to its pre-pandemic level in Visakhapatnam. Domestic passenger footfalls have risen significantly at Visakhapatnam airport and airlines are getting back on their feet. Easing of curbs, by most states, has led to more people taking to the skies. The graph of air travel in Vizag is rising quickly, as noted in the months of May, June and July 2021.
According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), all six airports in the state, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Rajahmundry, Kadapa and Kurnool, are doing significantly better now. As per the AAI report, 2,808 flights have been operated to and from these six airports in July, as against 1,850 and 1,667 flights in June and May respectively this year.
In July there were as many as 908 flights, to and from the Visakhapatnam airport, which is a significant increase from the previous months.
Visakhapatnam airport has seen more air travel in July, with almost 1,02,577 passengers using the domestic services. Comparing this to June and May’s passenger footfalls, which were 1,21,646 and 79,000, a major increase in air travel can be noted.
Unless the Covid-19 situation worsens in the city, air travel is expected to continue growing at the Visakhapatnam airport in the months of August and September. Additionally, with the newly-commissioned N5 taxiway at the airport, the number of flights, as well as passenger footfalls, should rise.
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