PATNA: The number of flyers and train passengers has surged in the last few weeks following gradual relaxation in restrictions imposed earlier in view of the
Covid-19 pandemic.
The ratio of people flying from the
Patna airport is higher than those coming from outside everyday.
When asked, Patna airport director BCH Negi on Friday said the count of outbound flyers is higher than inbound passengers compared to the pre-Covid era. He said almost 80% of the air traffic has been resumed compared to period before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) sources said a large number of the outbound flyers are daily wagers, who had returned home after the lockdown and have been returning to different locations across the country for working in factories and other places.
“The movement of daily wagers at large scale started after domestic flight operations resumed following the relaxations in the lockdown restrictions last year,” an AAI source said.
He said more than 4,600 flyers left the city airport for different locations across the country on Thursday. “This figure could be compared to around 3200 inbound flyers,” he said.
The officer said each outbound flight has been carrying 180 to 190 passengers on an average. He said more than 40 flights on an average are being operated daily from the Patna airport.
As far as train movement is concerned, the number of passengers travelling has considerably gone high at different railway stations under the East Central Railway (ECR). Altogether 230 special passenger trains are either originating from or passing through the ECR jurisdiction these days.
According to ECR chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar, about two lakh passengers are travelling per day in the reserved coaches while about 15 lakh passengers are travelling in the unreserved coaches daily from different places under the ECR jurisdiction in Bihar. The number of passengers who travelled by the special trains in November was about 35 lakh while it increased to 48.2 lakh passengers in December last year, he said.
Railways has, however, registered a sudden surge in the number of passengers this month. About 33 lakh passengers till date travelled from stations under ECR in January so far, yielding an impressive revenue of Rs179 crore. This figure is about 53.3% higher as compared to previous months, Kumar said, adding that the occupancy rate has been full in most of the long-distance special trains originating from Bihar.
Railways has also earned about Rs1.99 crore from unreserved passengers in January so far, he said, adding that railways is earning Rs175 to 180 crore per month after restoration of special passenger train services in the state.