Visakhapatnam: Not withstanding the delay in commencement of the international operations, the city airport has been one of the fastest growing airports in the country in terms of passenger traffic.
Passenger traffic at the airport has increased by almost 450 per cent in the last eight years of its functioning.
The year 2011-12, for which last consolidated data was available, alone accounted for an increase of about 35 per cent in passenger traffic over the previous year and recorded the largest increase in passenger traffic in one year since 2003.
In 2003-04, the city airport handled about 480 passengers a day while this had swelled up to around 2,635 passengers a day in 2011-12. The numbers have increased further this year with about 2,825 passengers boarding aircraft each day in the seven months since April this year.
While last year itself recorded a mammoth increase in terms of the number of passengers that are traveling from the city airport, this year seems set for even higher numbers.
08/12/12 Ajmar Tejaswi/Deccan Chronicle
