KOCHI: The Kochi airport, which had witnessed a drastic fall in fliers following the coronavirus outbreak and the resultant travel curbs, seems to be returning to its pre-Covid level of operations. According to the data available for a six-month period, from June to November, the airport operated 8,269 aircraft movements in its international sectors and 11,714 in domestic sectors.
The airport is now handling around 6,000 passengers per day in departures alone, and the total passenger traffic is around 12,000 per day, compared to 15,000 passengers per day during the pre-pandemic days.
According to the Airport Authority of India data, the Kochi airport ranks third in international passenger movement with 2,22,192 fliers in October. With 6,46,268 and 3,10,370 passengers, Delhi and Mumbai airports rank first and second, respectively.
On Monday, the Kochi airport witnessed peak traffic with 22,534 passengers and 151 aircraft movements, which, according to an official at the airport, is the highest since the outbreak of Covid. Data shows that international departures have seen a steady increase compared to the arrival figures. From June to November, there were 5,23,887 departures while the total number of arrivals stood at 4,37,363.
The total passenger movement at the airport during the period was 2,055,476. Meanwhile, the numbers of arrivals and departures in the domestic sector are almost the same. A Kochi airport official said that flight operations have begun to match their pre-Covid levels.
“Nearly 80% of the flight operations in domestic sectors have come up to the pre-Covid times. Earlier, the airport had 40 to 45 departures per day, and now the numbers have reached more than 35,” said the official.