Delhi beats Mumbai in flier figures

New Delhi: A new runway, increased slots for airlines and future growth potential seem to have worked in favour of Delhi International Airport (Dial). After a gap of three years, it has surpassed Mumbai International Airport (Mial) to become the busiest airport in the country.
The total number of assengers carried by Dial between April and October this year stood at 14.51 million, compared with 14.33 million by Mial.
Delhi was able to run past Mumbai on the basis of good showing, which began in July and continued through October, carrying more passengers than Mumbai in each month.
On a standalone basis, 1.89 million passengers used Mumbai in September and another 2.23 million in October this year. For Delhi, the figures stood at 2.05 million and 2.25 million, respectively.
A spokesperson for Mial said that the Mumbai airport was witnessing 20% passenger growth month-on-month for the last three months and expected to close 2009-10 with 24 million passengers against 23.4 million in the previous fiscal. The airport is expected to reach its peak capacity of 40 million passengers by 2014-15.
According to Satyam Agarwal and Nalin Bhatt of Motilal Oswal, passenger traffic grew 21% for Delhi and 15% for Mumbai in September. For the September quarter, Mial recorded growth of 10%, while Delhi recorded a 20% increase.
23/11/09 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Nov 2009