Passenger movement to touch 3 million

Figures indicate growth, says Thiruvananthapuram airport director

The movement of international passengers through the Thiruvananthapuram international airport will touch two million and domestic passengers one million this year-end.

Once the figures in these sectors touch the above said mark, the overall passenger movement through the airport will, for the first time, reach the three million mark.

“The passenger movement will touch the three million mark this year going by the current growth figures in the first quarter,” Airport Director G. Chandramouli toldThe Hindu.

As many as 18,35,970 international passengers and 9,79,129 domestic passengers moved through the airport during 2011-12. The corresponding figures in 2010-11 were 18,45,378 and 6,84,393 domestic movements during 2010-11.

While there was a decline in the movement of international passengers in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11, there has been a 143 per cent increase in domestic passengers in 2011-12 compared to the previous year.

In 2009-10, 16,86,379 international passengers and 64,1797 domestic passengers moved through the airport. The airport has been registering a steady growth in the movement of international passengers since 2006-07 when the international passenger movement was 11,86,160.

In January this year, 1,61,290 international passengers and 99,014 domestic passengers moved through the airport to various destinations.

The international and domestic passenger movement came down to 1,35,210 and 79,189 respectively in February.

In March this year, the international passenger movement through the airport went up to touch 1,51,057 and the domestic passenger movement further slipped to 75,430.

The airport has been registering a steady growth in aircraft movement in the international sector since 2006-07. The number of aircraft movements in 2010-11 was 16,656 compared to 15,185 in 2009-10, a growth of 109 per cent. There was a decline in aircraft movements in the domestic sector with the number of movement coming down from 10,166 in 2009-10 to 8,277 in 2010-11.

Aircraft movements through the airport was 1,248 (international) and 1,090 (domestic) in March this year while it was 1,178 and 1,086 respectively in February. Aircraft movements in the international sector in January this year was 1,354 and 1,172 in the domestic sector.

Cargo handling

In cargo handling, there has been a steady growth with the international cargo movement going up from 30,465 metric tonnes in 2006-07 to 37,797 metric tonnes in 2011-12. Cargo handling moved up from 4,21,428 metric tonnes in January this year to 45,55,234 metric tonnes in March this year. The domestic cargo movement came down from 16,268 metric tonnes in February this year to 13,908 tonnes in March.

As many as 15 airlines are operating from the airport to various international destinations, offering connectivity to over two dozen destinations in the Gulf, Sri Lanka, and Singapore.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article3420322.ece