JOIN USAir Traffic Movement: KIA on recovery route
Air Traffic Movement (ATM) at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is approaching pre-pandemic levels, figures released in a monthly report by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) indicated.
A post-operations analysis on average daily movements in six major airports for the month of September 2022, compiled by the Central Air Traffic Flow Management (C-ATFM) under the AAI, showed that KIA reported 92 per cent of its September 2019 movements. Bengaluru, and Mumbai, also at 92 per cent of its September 2019 levels, reported the best recovery among the six airports. In August 2022, KIA had reported 88 per cent of its August 2019 levels.
The C-ATFM report also analysed total ATM which includes domestic and international (scheduled and unscheduled) flights, all-cargo, air taxi and commercial business flights at the six airports, on a year-on-year basis. The total ATM at KIA in September 2022 was 17,097, while it was 12,354 in September last year.
KIA recorded its highest ATM during the month, 633, on September 30. The airport had 570 average daily movements in September, a 4 per cent increase from 548 in August this year. Among major airports, Kolkata is the only one to report a dip (of 0.6 per cent) from August.
The numbers offer context in another statistic quoted in the C-ATFM report – domestic and international air traffic across Indian airports is estimated to have recorded an 8 per cent and 3.3 per cent decrease, respectively, in September compared to August. The total number of flights during the month was 131,054, while in August, the figure was 137,021.
The September dip came, notwithstanding, airports in the country have since March 2022 consistently reported monthly ATM that are higher than their average monthly movements in 2019.