Srinagar airport pips Amritsar, Chandigarh in passenger traffic

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 30

International airports in the northern region are getting busier as the number of people opting for air travel has been growing exponentially. In 2018-19, Srinagar International Airport witnessed a 12.2% growth in passenger traffic (domestic and international) followed by Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, Amritsar (8.8%). Chandigarh International Airport, however, witnessed a marginal decline in passenger traffic by nearly 2% because of restricted timings and disruptions due to frequent closure of runway for repair and extension. The 24X7 operations were held up as the runway length restricted the long-haul aircraft operations.

According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) data, in 2018-19, 27.37 lakh passengers travelled through the Srinagar airport for both domestic and international flights, 12.2%-jump over 2017-18. It handled 24.40 lakh passengers in 2017-18. To further boost the traffic, in its recently approved Master Plan of Srinagar metropolitan region, the government has pitched for upgrade of infrastructure facilities and night landing facilities at the airport, as it is one of the preferred tourist destinations in the country.

The passenger traffic at the Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, Amritsar, continues to grow at an incredible pace. At the end of FY 2018-19, a record 25.23 lakh passengers travelled through the airport. The growth was mainly attributed to record jump in international traffic, as it registered a growth of 26%, while domestic travel witnessed a growth of 2.3%. The addition of new airlines and new routes to familiar destinations were the main driving factors as the airport achieved growth in passenger numbers, registering a 8.8% growth over the previous year’s 23.20 lakh.

However, there has been a decline in overall passenger growth at Chandigarh International Airport. According to the latest data available with the AAI, 20.98 lakh passengers travelled from Chandigarh in 2018-19 as compared to 21.38 lakh in previous fiscal.

“If you study the data, it indicates that there has been a decline in passengers. However, if you consider per-hour passenger traffic, we have witnessed a growth as the airport was not 24x7 operational during the last fiscal. Moreover, there were restrictions on timings and the airlines were not allowed to operate beyond 4.30 pm. Besides this, the runway was closed a couple of times for repair and extension,” said Suneel Dutt, chief executive officer (CEO), Chandigarh International Airport Limited. However, the airport is now operational 24X7 with extended runway.

The 24X7 operations are expected to bring more domestic and international flights to the airport. At present, the airport has flights to just two international destinations — Dubai and Sharjah.

In addition to these international airports, the region has seven domestic airports at Jammu and Leh in J&K, Gaggal, Bhuntar and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh and Bathinda and Ludhiana in Punjab.

Chart

Traffic at international airports

Airport

Passengers (domestic and international)

Growth

2017-18

2018-19

Srinagar

24,40,467

27,37,560

12.2

Amritsar

23,19,955

25,23,794

8.8

Chandigarh

21,37,739

20,97,698

-1.9