The return of Covid 19 with the new variant Omicron coupled with cold waves has resulted in the lesser footfall of passengers at the Birsa Munda Domestic Airport.
In recent days the number of flights departing from this airport has reduced from 30 to 23 and at the same time, the number of passengers too has decreased. Earlier, the footfall exceeded 4000 plus, which is now around 3000.
This downward trend was observed on Tuesday when 23 flights operated from Ranchi. A total of 3,005 passengers checked out Birsa Munda airport, whereas 2,688 passengers took the flight from Ranchi.
On Monday 25 flights had operated and a total of 62,298 passengers had travelled. This includes 3,171 passengers who took flights from Ranchi to different destinations.
On Sunday 29 flights had operated carrying 7484 passengers to and fro. Similarly, on December 18, as many as 28 flights had operated from Birsa Munda airport where 3,260 passengers travelled to Ranchi and 3,800 took the flights from Ranchi. December 12, witnessed the highest number of 31 flights with 8738 passengers.
Currently, these flights are operating to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Patna, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
But sudden fall in the number of flights and passengers have brought a slowdown in the aviation industry.
Airport sources said that it may be a temporary fall affected by reasons like people avoiding travelling due to the new Covid 19 variant. Besides, the marriage session is over which coupled with poor weather also might have affected the aviation sector.
“For the past one and half years, the travel and tourism industry has been affected by the pandemic. From the business point of view, this remains the peak season for the business because people go on holiday for Christmas and the New Year’s celebration. But, there is no upbeat mood in the market,” said a travel agent.