This Durga Puja, Kolkata airport gets 57% more flyers – Times of India

Kolkata News
KOLKATA: The city airport recorded the busiest week in over 20 months with 3 lakh flyers travelling through the facility this Puja, up from just under 2 lakh passengers it catered to during the festival last year — a jump of around 57%.
The highest traffic during the eight-day period between Tritiya and Dashami was on Shashthi when 47,193 flyers used the airport.

While 25,294 passengers flew in for the Puja, 21,899 people flew out. The second highest was on Tritiya when 47,068 flyers used the airport with 25,465 flying in and 21,603 passengers flying out.
Last year, the highest traffic days were on Tritiya and Panchami when 33,819 and 33,878 passengers travelled through the airport.
The figures also show that work from home enabled more Kolkatans settled outside the state to return home during the festival as reported in Monday’s edition of TOI. More people flew in than those flew out this Puja, a contrast to the last Puja when those flying out were more than the numbers that flew in. Also among those departing last year were migrant workers who had returned to the state in May-June following the nationwide lockdown.
While 1,03,441 passengers had arrived in the city between Tritiya and Dashami and 1,07,804 people had flown out last year, the trend is different this year with 1,73,971 people flying in and 1,75,779 people flying out.
What has facilitated the revival of Puja traffic is the increase in the number of flights. Aircraft movements (landings and takeoffs) during the eight-day period increased by 41.8% from 1,794 last year to 2,543 this year.
Though vaccination and lower Covid case count appears to have boosted the confidence of people to undertake air travel, the airport had to take multiple measures to ensure compliance with Covid SOP. Thermal screening continues to be carried out at the entrances to the terminal. Transparent glass shield has been provided at each ticket/ID/boarding pass checking counter. Social distancing markings are provided at all places of the terminal. Covid guidelines are displayed in FIDS boards/video walls at various places for awareness of passengers.
“This year, the traffic during the eight-day period was up 56.6% against the corresponding period last year. That is a significant jump. Though we are still a distance to go before the figures match those of 2019 or before when 70,000-72,000 passengers travelled in a day, with the civil aviation ministry now allowing flights to resume at 100% pre-Covid capacity, up from 80% at present, we could see the gap being bridged over the next two-three months,” said a Kolkata airport official.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/this-puja-kol-airport-gets-57-more-flyers/articleshow/87119927.cms