The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on air traffic across the world, and the Visakhapatnam International Airport is no exception to the fallout.
The domestic and international passenger traffic, and cargo movement from the airport has been badly affected due to the cancellation of international flights and restrictions on domestic operations.
Cargo movement
The cargo movement through the airport has fallen by 46.29% in the second three months of the calendar year compared to the first three months.
“The airport handled 608 MT in the second three months against 1,132 MT in the first three months of the calendar year,” according to AP Air Travellers’ Association leaders K. Kumar Raja, O. Naresh Kumar and D.S. Varma.
Passenger footfalls
Similarly, the passenger movement fell by 92.21% during the period. The total passenger movement from the airport was 6,09,150 in the first three months against a mere 47,510 in the second three months, recording a dip of 92.2%.
The number of domestic passengers during the first three months was 5,80,721 and 45,216 in the second three months. International passengers were 28,429 and 2,294 during the corresponding period.
The aircraft movement reduced from 5,353 to 599 during the same period.
The APATA team has appealed to Airport Director M. Raja Kishore to utilise the pandemic period for speedy completion of the expansion of the terminal building on either side.
The team had distributed rice and other provisions to loading boys, and provided masks and face shields to the CISF personnel during May.
