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Record air traffic, first international flight in 93 years: How Maha Kumbh transformed Prayagraj airport
The latest record-breaking traffic the Prayagraj airport reported was on February 21 when 24,512 passengers flew to and from there in 236 flights in a day.
With lakhs of people rushing to Prayagraj to take a holy dip at the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela before its conclusion on February 26, the airport at the city which otherwise handles modest air traffic and passenger footfall is now seeing an unusual surge in traffic.
According to a news agency PTI report, the Prayagraj airport's daily flight figures touched 70 from an average of 40 ferries which include non-scheduled charters and private jets daily for the rich and famous.
The footfall at public transport stations, including the airport, in Prayagraj is expected to surge as the end of world's largest religious gathering, Maha Kumbh 2025, draws closer.
Prayagraj airport sees record footfall amid Maha Kumbh
The figures mentioned above are reportedly over and above the average 148 scheduled commercial passenger aircraft, which is more than seven times the number during non-Maha Kumbh periods, operating from the airstrip every day setting record passenger movement through the airport that has broken multiple times since the beginning of the grand fair, the PTI report quoted a senior Airports Authority of India official.
The latest record-breaking traffic the Prayagraj airport reported was on February 21 when 24,512 passengers flew to and from there in 236 flights on a single day, the above-cited official said. In normal times, the airport operates some 20 scheduled flights, carrying less than a thousand passengers, he added.
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Prayagraj Airport Director Mukesh Chandra Upadhyay told the news agency that the airport handled less than one lakh passengers during Maha Kumbh 2019. This time, the footfall at the airport has already crossed three lakhs during the ongoing Maha Kumbh and is likely to significantly jump till the congregation officially draws to a close on February 26 after the Mahashivratri holy dip, Upadhyay added.
Who's who descend at Prayagraj airport
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several other top politicians, actors and business tycoons like Mukesh Ambani have visited the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 to take holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Yamuna, Ganga and Saraswati.
On Monday, actors Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar were seen at the Maha Kumbh.
"Besides President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have hosted governors, chief ministers, MPs, MLAs, business leaders, international delegates, bureaucrats and celebrities from various walks of life. A significant majority of them avail of chartered flights and private planes for a dip at the Sangam which they consider a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Upadhyay added.
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The business tycoons who have descended at the Prayagraj airport for the Maha Kumbh included the Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil, chairman of the Adani Group Gautam Adani, Hero Motocorp chairman Pawan Munjal, chairman of the Vedanta Group Anil Agarwal, and leaders of the Hinduja Group and TVS Group, all of who arrived with family, the airport director said.
Upadhyay said that the airport recently received a contingent of about 180 politicians from Rajasthan who availed of chartered fights for a dip at the Kumbh.
Prayagraj airport's first international flight in 93 years
Marking yet another milestone, the Prayagraj airport recently received its first international chartered flight in 93 years when a plane carrying Laurene Powell Jobs, American billionaire and wife of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and her associates from Bhutan who made a trip to the Maha Kumbh in January this year.
According to Uttar Pradesh state officials, this was the first international flight which operated out of the airport in 93 years, since the last flight took off from Allahabad for London in 1932.
Airport authorities said that since Laurene Powell Jobs'S aircraft, Prayagraj has hosted four MORE international flights amid the Maha Kumbh, the latest of which was expected to arrive on Monday.
