With the Indian aviation sector regaining its confidence for the first time since the pandemic, Cochin International airport has registered continuous growth in three months consecutively.
During September-November, the airport logged a passenger traffic growth of 110 per cent compared to the same period in 2020. As per the airport data, CIAL handled 11,891 aircraft movements during September-November 2021, which is 62 per cent more than the previous period.
It also facilitated 6,73,238 international passengers during the three months. The domestic sector also showed an increase in passenger travel, handling 6,85,817 passengers.
The cumulative passenger volume is 13,59,055. It was 6,46,761 during the same period in 2020.
Ensuring safety
CIAL Managing Director S Suhas attributed the steady growth in traffic to the company’s effort in making the airport a safe travel hub. CIAL has implemented several measures to ensure steady growth of traffic. The airport has ensured that there is more connectivity than ever before.
On December 10, the airport witnessed peak traffic with 23,029 passengers and 154 aircraft movements. This is the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic. CIAL now handles 182 weekly departures to West Asia alone. It also hosts flights to the UK, Sri Lanka, and Male.
After a 20-month long hiatus, CIAL started its operations to Singapore, which helped expand its international connectivity. As part of keeping the vigil against Covid’s new variant Omicron, the company scaled up Covid testing facilities for international passengers. Now, the airport operator will be able to facilitate 700 Covid tests at a time.
Cochin International Airport, which has been handling 10 million passengers annually during the pre-pandemic period, is all set to facilitate a projected surge in the aviation sector for the forthcoming months.