Non-metros prop up 46% air traffic growth

New Delhi: Domestic air traffic grew at an impressive 46% in 2006. While passenger traffic in metros grew by an average of 31%, smaller stations like Port Blair, Nagpur and Raipur registered traffic growth of 141.8%, 94.8% and 70.3%, respectively.
According to Airports Authority of India data, of the top 45 airports, nine airports registered 50% growth in passenger traffic. These include Hyderabad, Pune, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Nagpur, Port Blair, Raipur, Ranchi and Jaipur. Surprisingly, two of the most popular tourism destinations—Udaipur and Jodhpur—recorded only 9.6% and 2.9% growth, respectively.
The figures are more impressive for December 2006 over December 2005. Growth registered in Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore and Nagpur for the period was 251.6%, 198.6%, 72.9% and 70.9%.
Among the four metros, Kolkata registered the highest growth of 39.5%, followed by Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai at 35%, 27.1% and 22.4%.
The total aircraft movements in the country increased to 779 from 620 in April to December 2006 over the corresponding period of 2005, a growth of almost 30%. Total passenger movement in the country increased 33%, with domestic traffic accounting for 41% of the growth and international traffic contributing only 15%.
24/03/07 Atreyee Dev Roy/Financial Express

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Mar 2007, General Aviation Mar 2007