By admin, Published on January 27th, 2024 in News
The passenger footfall at the Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport Amritsar has reached an all-time high in the month of November 2023, setting a new record. In a press communique, Sameep Singh Gumtala, Global Convener of the FlyAmritsar Initiative & Overseas Secretary of the Amritsar Vikas Manch revealed this significant milestone achieved by the busiest and biggest airport of Punjab.
According to Gumtala, analysis of recent data released by the Airport Authority of India for all the the Airports in India indicates that Amritsar Airport welcomed an astounding total of 2,84,641 (approx. 2.84 lakh) passengers in November 2023, marking it the busiest month in the airport’s history. This figure includes 1,97,344 domestic and 87,297 international passengers. A new monthly record of a total of 1903 (1,411 domestic and 492 international) aircraft movements was also achieved during the month.
Gumtala further highlighted that, preceding November 2023, the detailed analysis with previous year data shows that the distinction of the busiest month in the airport’s history was held by December 2018, which recorded a notable 2,60,714 passengers. This figure included 1,76,898 domestic and 83,276 international passengers. During this month, a total of 1802 aircraft moments (1239 domestic and 563 international) were recorded. The footfall in Nov’23 also recorded an increase of 27.8% in comparison to the same month in Nov’22 which recorded 2,22,758 passengers.
“The analysis also revealed another milestone for the airport, with calendar year (CY) 2023 as the busiest ever in its history. In the first 11 months (Jan – Nov) of CY2023, the airport recorded a total traffic of 26,05,853 (approx. 26.1 lakh) passengers, already surpassing its highest ever CY 2019 passenger footfall of 25,63,719 (approx. 25.7 lakh) passengers. With Dec 2023 data not yet released by the AAI, it is likely that the airport will end with an estimated total traffic of nearly 29 lakh passengers”, said Gumtala.
The surge in traffic underscores Amritsar Airport’s increasing significance as a key transportation hub, both domestically and internationally in Punjab. This milestone not only reflects the airport’s operational efficiency but also signals a positive trend in travel demand for the region, added Gumtala.
Gumtala additionally highlighted that presently, Amritsar Airport boasts direct connections to 10 international and 13 domestic destinations. These include prominent cities abroad such as London, Birmingham, Rome, Milan, Verona, Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. Notably, 10 global airlines, including industry leaders like Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines, operate over 114 weekly services, enhancing the airport’s global connectivity.
Expressing displeasure with the State Government, Gumtala said that despite such connectivity and surge in traffic over the past many years, the current and previous State Government’s did not provide any public transport facility to the airport from the city or from other cities of Punjab. Bus service from Punjab is being launched to Delhi airport and the AAP Mann government is also discriminating against the airport, ignoring the long pending demand of bus service, which will provide cheaper mode of transportation to the passengers to reach the airport. Instead, the State government is encouraging passengers to fly from Delhi by providing this cheaper mode of transportation from Punjab only to Delhi.
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