Kolkata: passenger traffic traveling through Kolkata Airport almost doubled in a month with a 50% increase in traffic which was recorded more than a week because it raised complex RT-PCR requirements for a fully vaccinated leaflet.
While passenger traffic data on July 2 at the city airport was established at 19,658, the same rose to 36,079 (combination of arrivals and departures) at 2.
Numbers for July 30 21,239.
A sharp increase in travel requests also caused airlines to introduce more flights.
On August 2, 130 flights took off from Kolkata, the first time the airport had witnessed a lot of take-off in four months.
Last month, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Moca) has increased domestic flight capacity from 50% to 65% of the pre-covid level.
The number of flights continues to increase because it is gradual growth.
Only in August that the numbers suddenly appeared with airlines adding 25 to 30 flights per day to our schedule at the airport.
Highlighting a gradual increase in the number of flights departing, TOI has last week wrote how the number of flights departing from Kolkata Airport had touched 100 signs twice in July after the gap with 108 highest flights at 168 carrying 11,656 passengers.
On August 1, 126 flights came out of Kolkata carrying 17,551 passengers and on August 2, 18,650 passengers departed on 131 flights.
The last time the airport had violated the 130 flight sign on April 16 when 11,299 passengers had traveled with 134 flights.
After a complete suspension for two months, the government has allowed domestic flight operations from May 25, 2020, with a capacity of 33% of their pre-covid levels.
This increased to 45% in June.
Driven by a number of Covid National cases, on December 3 last year, the Ministry allowed airlines to increase their flight capacity from 70% to 80% of the pre-covid level.
However, passenger traffic began to fall from April 2021 and the Ministry reduced the capacity of domestic airlines from 80% (from the summer schedule 2020) to 50% from June 1.
Post Pandemic, the highest number of departure flights recorded by the city airport March 26 when 24,976 passengers Has departed on 163 flights.
Even when the number of passengers rose sharply, CISF had introduced additional routs with CISF slowly enhancing inspection steps in the security process in front of independence day in less than two weeks.
“Security measures have been tightened since drone attacks at the IAF station in Jammu five weeks ago.
Additional passengers mean more time going into shocks.
These steps will be further tightened from next week until August 20 due to independence day security issues,” said an airport official.