The second wave of Covid 19 had cast a cloud over the aviation sector, which was barely recovering from the harsh lockdown of 2020. From the first week of May, flight operations from Birsa Munda International Airport had reduced with maximum passengers postponing their travel plans.
But, now with decline in daily corona caseload and drop in active cases things are getting smooth. Once again there is an increase in the number of flight services from Birsa Munda International Airport. On an average, the number of flights (take-off and landing) from Birsa Munda International Airport is more than 15 on a daily basis. Also, the daily footfall of passengers at Airport is around 2,500.
The passengers’ arrival-departure data during a week from July 7 to 14 shows that during the one week period 27,954 passengers landed at Birsa Munda Airport. At the same time around 220 flights operated from the Airport. During this period airlines had flight operations to cities such Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai from Ranchi airport.
The number of passengers going out of Ranchi in a week 14,700 passengers travelled from Ranchi to other cities. On the other hand 13,254 people landed at Ranchi Birsa Munda Airport from other cities. The maximum number of aircraft operations during this period was on July 10 and 11.
On July 10, 18 aircraft took off and landed at Birsa Munda Airport. Around 2,631 passengers took off from different airlines while at the same time 2,464 passengers landed in Ranchi.
On July 11, 16 planes took off and landed in which 2,626 passengers flew and 2,142 passengers reached the State capital.
Birsa Munda International Airport Director Vinod Sharma said, “On an average the number of flights operations from Birsa Munda Airport is 30 on a daily basis. This has gone up due to decline in corona cases. Earlier, the number of flight operations had reduced 16 during the first week of May.” Sharma said that with the drop in corona cases we are optimistic that the number of flights operating from Birsa Munda Airport will go up to 50 which is the number of average flight operations during pre Covid period.
The data from 7th to 14th of last May shows that only 5,136 people travelled from Ranchi in a span of one week. At the same time, 8,896 aircraft passengers from many cities landed at Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi. During this period 91 aircraft were operational. Due to the spike in corona infections, the number of passengers traveling in the month of May was low and many airlines canceled their operations due to drop in passengers count. But now the cases of corona infection are decreasing and after the Covid vaccination, an increase in the number of passengers is being recorded.