Air traffic in North East Region grows faster after unlock guidelines

New Delhi: Passenger movement in North East India is growing with each passing month. Amid corona pandemic, since the domestic flight operations resumed in the country, the airlines have slowly started their services to almost 50 percent of the pre-corona numbers, adhering to all the health guidelines laid down by the state as well as the Central government.  

The figures are heartening for aviation in North East, said Airports Authority of India (AAI) in an official statement on Monday. On July 10, 86 flights operated in the North East Region which carried 5,625 passengers. Similarly, on August 10, 92-flights moved 7,024 passengers at North East Airports. A month later the figures crossed the hundred mark. And on September 10, 102 flights flew 11,213 passenger in the North East states. The airports operational during this period included Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Dimapur, Jorhat, Tezpur and Lilabari.  

Airports Authority of India, North-East Region (AAI-NER)'s Regional Executive Director (Officiating) JT Radhakrishna informed that LGBI Airport, Guwahati, which is the gateway to the North East, catered to the maximum passenger and flight movements. On August 10, Guwahati Airport handled 2,812 passengers, while on September 10, Guwahati got 5,924 passengers, he added.

Agartala, which is the second busiest airport in the North East, handled 866 passengers on July 10. While on August 10, it handled 1,044 passengers and on September 10, it catered to 1,765 passengers, Radhakrishan said. 

Other Airports in the NER, like Imphal saw 827 passengers on July 10, 600 passengers on August 10 and 1,377 pax on September 10.

Read also: Leh airport is getting a new terminal building by Dec 2022, courtesy AAI

Similarly, at Dibrugarh, 432 passengers flew on July 10, and 799 pax travelled on August 10, whereas on September 10, the figure touched 977 passengers. Airports had almost regular flight movements after the commercial flights were allowed to operate their services in the country.  

'We are expecting more flights in the coming days as norms are being relaxed for air travel in the country. The figures are growing and air traffic will soon be touching to normal operational capacity for the airline as well as the airports in the region, which is an encouraging factor for us," Radhakrishan added.

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