By Sameep Singh Gumtala, Published on February 19th, 2024 in News
For the first time ever in the history of Punjab’s busiest and biggest Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport Amritsar, the monthly passenger footfall surpassed 3-lakh reaching a record number of about 3.38 lakh passengers. The airport not only achieved its highest ever monthly passenger footfall in December 2023 but also recorded unprecedented yearly traffic for the same year.
Analysis of recent data released by the Airport Authority of India for all airports in India indicates that Amritsar Airport welcomed an astonishing total of 3,38,712 passengers in December 2023, breaking the previous record of 2,84,641 (approx. 2.84 lakh) passengers set in November 2023. The total footfall in Dec’23 includes 2,31,699 domestic and 1,06,813 international passengers.
Another significant achievement is that international footfall surpassed six figures for the first time, exceeding the previous record of 87,297 passengers. Additionally, the footfall in December 2023 saw a 41% increase compared to December 2022, which recorded 2,40,200 passengers. Another milestone includes a new monthly record of a total of 2202 aircraft movements (1,604 domestic and 598 international).
“The detailed analysis also revealed another historical milestone for the airport, with calendar year 2023 becoming the busiest ever in airport’s history. The airport recorded a total traffic of 29,44,916 (approx. 29.5 lakh) passengers, surpassing the previous highest ever footfall of 25,63,719 (approx. 25.7 lakh) passengers in 2019. This includes 20,26,901 domestic and 9,18,015 international passengers.”
Amritsar Airport offers direct connectivity to 9 international and 13 domestic destinations, including London Gatwick, Birmingham, Milan, Rome, Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Gumtala expressed gratitude to all stakeholders, including airlines, airport authorities, passengers and the Punjabi diaspora, for their unwavering support in achieving this historical milestone. Start of more flights, increase in passenger loads on existing flights with more Punjabis preferring to fly from Amritsar instead of traveling by road to Delhi can be the reason for increase in footfall at Amritsar. He emphasized that the FlyAmritsar Initiative remains committed to furthering the cause of Amritsar’s aviation development and ensuring the city’s air connectivity on the global stage.
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