Mangaluru: The fear of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus forced air travellers to cancel their plans, which has resulted in a drop in 60% in the movement of domestic passengers at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA), in the month of January. The domestic passenger footfall in December 2021 was 1,08,880, which dropped to 63,648 in January 2022.
According to those in the airlines business, the steep decline in domestic passenger movement was due to multiple factors, related to the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The movement of international passengers has also seen negative growth, with a drop of 2,915 passengers, as against 31,279 international passengers in December last year.
“The movement of domestic air passengers, which was hit by the second wave of Covid-19, started to see a recovery from August, with 53,261 footfalls, that doubled by December, 2021. However, the decline started from the last week of December, and the numbers again moved back to a five-month low,” said a senior executive of an airline. “The main reasons for the negative growth in domestic passenger numbers is the Omicron variant, which resulted in night curfews and travel restrictions. Many travellers avoided flying, since it was informed that the variant is more contagious than earlier ones. However, the numbers started to pick up after the end of January.”
Domestic air traffic has reduced. In December, 953 domestic flights were reported, which reduced to 712 flights in January.
15/02/22 Times of India
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