Hyderabad International Airport touches 3 million mark in domestic passengers since unlock

As the passenger footfall grows steadily after relaxation of Covid lockdown, GMR Hyderabad International Airport has registered 37,000 passengers on a single day for domestic operations post lockdown in November.

From about 3,000 domestic passengers daily in the first few weeks post recommencement of domestic operations from May 25 onwards, now the passenger footfall has increased to over 30,000 daily in November 2020, which over 10 times from the re-start. The airport has handled over 3 million domestic passengers from the day of recommencement till November 23, 2020.

According to GMR, “Crossing the three million passenger mark is a testimony to the growing passenger confidence in air travel. With the government allowing the airlines to operate 70 per cent of their pre-Covid capacity, GMR Hyderabad International Airport is all geared up for the safe travel of passengers with many contact-less initiatives at the airport.”

With the relaxation of quarantine norms by both the Central and the State Governments under the Unlock 5.0, Indian aviation sector is gaining strength steadily. The guidelines on the medical profile of the passengers and RT-PCR medical report are still the ask by many states but thanks to the new Covid-19 testing facility, the Airport is making Air travel the safest way to travel.

Uptick in Air Traffic Movement

Hyderabad has also seen uptick in the Air Traffic Movement from about 40 daily ATMs in the first few weeks of the restart, to over six times growth having handled over 260 domestic flights daily in November 2020. “Over 35,000 domestic flights were handled from the day of recommencement till 23rd November,” according to a statement.

The number of domestic passengers in a single day touched 37,000 mark recently, the highest since the recommencement of domestic operations. The ATM also crossed 284 mark on a single in November 2020.

Hyderabad International Airport has regained its 51 destinations out of pre-covid 55 domestic destinations. With three new domestic destinations – Kozhikode, Imphal and Jagdalpur, the airport is now connected to 54 destinations in the domestic sector.

The top 5 destinations during post-covid remains the metro cities - Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Initially, the airport observed unidirectional traffic due to pent-up demand, however, now the demand is gradually back to both-ways. GHIAL has partnered with Mapmygenome, an ICMR and NABL certified lab for testing facility in the airport.