Coimbatore: After a deterioration on passenger traffic in May and June, when the second wave of Covid-19 was at its peak in the district, the city airport had risen back to business by handling 99,000 passengers in August.
This is a 53% increase in passenger traffic from July, when handling 64,457 passengers.
The airport has handled 96,529 domestic passengers and 2,291 international passengers last month, compared with 63,244 domestic passengers and 1,213 international passengers in July.
The number of flights from the airport has also seen a sharp increase of 67% in August.
However, the amount, both from passenger traffic or flight, is not near pre-covid time.
In August 2019, the airport had handled domestic passengers 2.32 lakh, 20,005 international travelers and 1,679 aircraft.
Flight fans said they were happy to see a limp airport to normal.
It should be noted that domestic and international passenger traffic each touched low 23,555 and 829, in May.
Travel agencies said 40% of domestic passengers had used the airport to fly to Chennai, while the rest headed to Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Hyderabad.
In new trends, many guest workers have also begun to take flights from the city to their original places and return.
Ashish Kanted, the owner of Ashish Travels, said that until now the airport was largely used by the business community, followed by guest workers and recreational travelers.
“Previously, guest workers mainly used the train to go to their hometown and return.
With the absence of trains, some of them took flights with employers carrying most airplane tickets.
The recreational trip has also begun to take and the focus is on domestic places , Because it is not easy to visit destinations abroad.
“City S Senthil Valavan’s airport director said people were more confident to fly now because Indian airport authorities have placed all safety protocols.
“All airport employees have taken the first dose of vaccines and many of them are fully vaccinated.
We have a swab collection facilities for Covid-19 testing also for tourists’ convenience.
Those who travel to the Gulf countries find it useful.”