Rakshabandhan week saw surge in air traffic at Mumbai airport

About 316,118 passengers passed security checkpoints at CSMIA during the Rakshabandhan week (August 16 to August 22). This is six times more than that of the last year when only 55,875 travelled between July 31 and August 6 owing to Covid-19 related lockdown restrictions

With travel restrictions easing in various states, there has been an upward trend in passenger traffic at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).

Representational Image. (HT archive)

According to sourced data from the city airport, about 316,118 passengers passed security checkpoints at CSMIA during the Rakshabandhan week (August 16 to August 22). This is six times more than that of the last year when only 55,875 travelled between July 31 and August 6 owing to Covid-19 related lockdown restrictions.

Data from August 20 to 22 this year saw an influx of passengers from across the country with 142,321 passengers travelling in and out of the airport. “This weekend saw the highest arriving passengers from Delhi with 12,118, followed by Bengaluru with 6,674 and Goa with 5,484 passengers. The top three destinations were Delhi with 12,389 passengers, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad with 5,199 and 3,770 respectively,” CSMIA spokesperson said.

“With major festivities approaching, and government extending flying capacity to 65%, CSMIA is expected to witness a surge in travel to destination across India during the festive period,” the spokesperson added.

According to ratings agency ICRA, there is a continued recovery in passenger numbers. ICRA viewed that the average number of passengers per flight during July 2021 was 104, against an average of 98 passengers per flight in June 2021. Domestic passenger traffic grew around 56-57% at around 4.8-4.9 million in July, compared to around 3.1 million in June 2021.