For the second consecutive month, total monthly passenger traffic breached the 2-lac mark
Amritsar (USA), Jan 9 (Punjab Post Bureau) – Sri Guru Ram Das Jee (SGRDJ) International Airport Amritsar is again in the limelight as the passenger traffic from the Airport once again crossed the 2-lac mark for second consecutive month with 213,615 passengers traveling to, from the Airport in comparison to 140,124 to the same month in 2016, an increase of 52.4 percent. Sameep Singh Gumtala Overseas Secretary for Amritsar Vikas Manch, in a press statement said that the analysis of the recently released data by Airport Authority of India also revealed that domestic air passenger traffic rose to 160,150 in November, up 75.6 percent from 91,185 reported for the corresponding month of 2016whereas India’s domestic air passenger traffic rose by 16.99 percent.
This domestic passenger growth was also the second highest among all the International Airports in the country after Srinagar. Total domestic aircraft movements almost double with an increase of 96.5 percent. Traffic between Amritsar-Delhi continues to lead with 112,816 passengers followed by Mumbai with 29,341 passengers. International passenger traffic also grew by 9.2 percent with 53,465 passengers, up from 48,939 a year earlier in Nov 2016.
Passengers carried by domestic airlines during April-November in financial year of 2017-2018 were 1,028,312 as against 658,923 during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a growth of 56.1%, shows the monthly domestic traffic report. Number of international passengers for April-November 2017 has increased to 387,721as against 338,697 during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a double-digit growth of 14.5 percent.
Gumtala said, “Domestic air passengers for the year in India have been growing by around 17 percent year on year and Amritsar continues to outplace the national average for this year. This data again proves that Amritsar has a strong international & domestic traffic potential with Harmandir Sahib as one of the most visited place in the World. Amritsar Airport has become the second to Delhi airport in the whole northern region in providing world class facilities of international standards like CAT-3B, 12000ft. runway, 14 parking bays for aircraft parking and which are being increased to 24 and world class Terminal building.”
Manch Patron and a member of the Airport Advisory Committee, Manmohan Singh said, “Due to thebig increase in traffic and with addition of more flights in 2018, it can hit the available terminal building capacity of 4 million passengers by 2020. With Amritsar having tremendous potential in religious tourism, trade and commerce, the expansion of the terminal building would benefit the region. The total area of the terminal building needs expansion to provide adequate space for multiple arrivals and departures.”