BENGALURU: Clocking growth of 64.1% in April 2024 over the corresponding month in the previous year, Belagavi airport has registered an impressive growth in air passenger traffic. Bengaluru and Mangaluru recorded positive growth, while patronage in Hubballi, Kalaburagi and Mysuru airports has plummeted, reveals the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The monthly Air Traffic Report of AAI shows overall passenger growth of 6 per cent in the country, with 32.39 million flyers in April 2024, as compared to 30.56 million in April 2023. Indians opting to fly abroad are driving growth with a 16.8 per cent surge in international travel, at 5.87 million this April versus 5.03 million the same month last year.
Belagavi airport recorded 31,060 flyers in April this year, as compared to just 18,922 the same month last year. On the huge jump, Belagavi airport Director S Thiyagarajan told TNIE, “There are two key reasons for it. Indigo’s daily operations along the Belagavi-Delhi route launched in October 2023 gave us a big boost. It is running with 70% average occupancy.
The addition of StarAir’s Embraer 175 aircraft, which has 80 seats on its Mumbai route, to its fleet of Embraer 145 aircraft which had only 50 seats, is another key driver of passenger traffic here. Patronage is set to surge in the months to come,” he told TNIE.
Mangaluru has seen the second biggest growth in flyers with 1,91,026 flyers in April, compared to 1,42,995 last year -- an upward growth of 33.6 per cent. Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport continues its steady pace, recording 6.7% growth with 34,21,997 flyers in April this year, versus 32,06,356 in April last year. International passenger traffic from Bengaluru has shot up by 23.7%, with 4,28,649 in April this year versus 3,46,467 in the corresponding month in 2023.