April 30, 2024, (Yes Punjab News)
The Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport at Amritsar achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 3 million (30-lakh) passengers during the fiscal year FY2023-24 that ended on March 31.
Sameep Singh Gumtala, the global convener of the FlyAmritsar Initiative, a global advocacy group dedicated to promoting and enhancing connectivity at Amritsar Airport, announced in a press release.
According to Gumtala, analysis of the recent data released by the Airport Authority of India for March 2024 revealed that Amritsar Airport recorded 30,85,598 passengers at the end of FY2023-33 (April 1 to March 31).
This marks a growth of 22.6% compared to the previous fiscal year, which recorded 25,16,518 passengers. Of the total footfall, 9,81,405 were international passengers and 21,04,193 were domestic passengers, indicating a 30% increase in international and a 19.5% increase in domestic passengers compared to the previous fiscal year.
Gumtala further highlighted, detailed data analysis by the FlyAmritsar Initiative revealed that Amritsar climbed from 25th position to the 23rd position in terms of the total passenger footfall. The data released by Airport Authority every month includes a total of 40 international and 95 domestic airports.
The airport also witnessed an increase in total aircraft movements, increasing from 19,251 to 21,648, a 10.9% increase over the previous year. New international flight routes that started during FY2023-24 included direct flights to Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia X and Malaysia Airlines, London Gatwick by Air India, Rome and Verona in Italy by Neos Air.
“In March 2024, the last month of FY2023-24, Amritsar Airport served 2,17,495 domestic and 99,000 international passengers, totaling 3,16,495 passengers, a 22.6% increase compared to March 2023. The data analysis reveals that this is the second highest footfall, the highest recorded was 3,38,512 passengers in December 2023”, said Gumtala.
Currently, the airport operates with 6 Indian and 5 foreign carries, connecting to 13 domestic and 9 international destinations including Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Rome, Milan, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
It facilitates approximately 65 daily departures and arrivals, with an average daily footfall of 10,000 passengers.
Gumtala expressed satisfaction with the airport’s traffic progress and anticipated that surpassing the 3 million passenger mark would attract more airlines. He thanked all stakeholders, including passengers, the Punjabi diaspora, airline and airport authorities, for their support in achieving the milestone.
Despite the growth, Gumtala highlighted the ongoing demand for bus connectivity with other cities of Punjab, which the State Government has yet to address. He noted that instead, the Mann government is promoting and increasing the bus connectivity from Punjab cities to the Delhi airport.
