Dull international travel drags down aviation recovery
Domestic air passenger traffic first crossed pre-covid levels in late 2022, but international passenger footfalls at Indian airports achieved the feat only in July, with only a mild recovery. Eight months after domestic air travel reclaimed pre-pandemic highs for the rest time, the number of international passengers checking into India’s airports genrally marked the feat only in July, data from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) showed.
Indian airports handled 5.78 million international passengers in July, 1.3% more than July 2019. This includes all passengers using Kolkata are lagging the most. In terms of domestic air traffic, most major airports have successfully rebounded to their pre-pandemic levels, with only Kolkata and Chennai lagging slightly behind. The dull data on international traffic suggests Indian aviation has more to achieve before it can claim successful recovery from the pandemic.
