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Delhi airport overtakes Dubai as second-busiest in March

The rankings were based on scheduled capacity in the current month and compared to the equivalent month in 2019
Last Updated 02 May 2022, 16:35 IST

The Delhi airport surpassed the Dubai airport to emerge as the second busiest airport in March in terms of total seat capacity and frequency of domestic and international flights, according to leading global travel data provider Official Airline Guide (OAG).

This is a "quantum leap" for the Indira Gandhi International airport compared to its ranking of 23rd in April 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement by its operator Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said on Monday.

The OAG ranking for March showed that Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson international airport remained at the top in March also. Dubai, which was second in February, was pushed to third by Delhi in March.

The Atlanta airport dealt with 44.22 lakh seats while Delhi had 36.11 lakh and Dubai 35.54 lakh followed by London's Heathrow airport with 35.10 lakh and Dallas international airport with 34.60 lakh.

According to DIAL, the Delhi airport has surpassed China's Guangzhou airport, which was the fourth busiest airport across the globe.

The rankings were based on scheduled capacity in the current month and compared to the equivalent month in 2019. The top ten busiest airport airports have been chosen using total domestic seat capacity and frequency of flights from a particular airport.

DIAL CEO Videsh Kumar Jaipuriar said, "Covid-19 pandemic has hit the world hard. Travel restrictions had badly affected the travel and tourism sectors for two consecutive years. But now, with the rise in the number of vaccinated people across the world, governments are easing travel restrictions and slowly opening up their borders."

"India opened its borders and allowed the entry of fully vaccinated international travellers into the country. These steps have largely helped the travel and tourism industry and given a much-needed boost to air travel," Jaipuriar said.

The DIAL said even during the Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021, Delhi had emerged as the number one airport among all Indian airports in terms of handling domestic as well as international passenger traffic. In 2021, Delhi airport handled about 31.65 million domestic passengers and 5.49 million international traffic.

When the Covid-19 pandemic led to lockdowns around the world in 2020, the airport handled around 22.64 million domestic and 5.86 million international passengers.

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(Published 02 May 2022, 10:44 IST)

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