Chennai: An extraordinary increase in passenger traffic and freight movement has been reported in the Chennai airport this year with 86,68,492 travellers flying in 65,653 flights between April and August, which was much higher than the figure of 29,877 flights being operated with 23.74 lakh persons in the year 2021 from April to September.
Similarly, according to airport sources, more cargo was transported through the airport in 2022, recording an increase of 4.6 per cent growth than the previous year. Between April and August this year, 1,51579 tonnes of cargo was handled as against the 1,44,879 tonnes in 2021 between April and August.
Most of the cargo, exported to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and other Gulf countries, besides Europe, comprises processed leather, leather goods, readymade garments, hosiery, perfumes, vegetables, fruits, flowers and machinery spare parts.
One of the reasons for the increase in exports of fruits, vegetables and flowers was due to the State receiving good rains that led to the production of those goods increasing considerably and their quality too improving.
Computers, computer spares, printing ink, paper, modern machinery, devices, medicines, medical appliances are among the goods that are primarily imported into the country through the Chennai airport.
Also, the number of passenger flights operated to and from Chennai also went up in September with both the domestic and international terminals together operating 10,876 flights and 14,97,483 passengers taking them. In contrast, September 2021 saw the operation of just 6,884 flights carrying 7.04 lakh fliers.
Most of the international travelers flew to destinations in Singapore, Sri Lanka and Dubai and majority of the domestic passengers travelled to Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Andamans.
Though flight operations almost came to standstill when the Coronavirus pandemic broke in late March, 2020, due to lockdowns and other restrictions, activity in the airport slowly picked up when the restrictions were lifted one after the other.
Initially, even flights were not allowed to carry a full complement of passengers. But slowly things changed and planes started flying with full capacity after the pandemic eased due to the various efforts taken by the governments.
Now that the spread of coronavirus has been brought under control and fear of the disease has dissipated, people have resumed travelling with flights to holiday destinations being overbooked. This return to normalcy has led to the spurt in flight operations, both passenger and cargo.
