The aviation industry seems to be witnessing a boom as more people are travelling these days. Nagpur airport is reflecting this trend as there has been a jump in air travellers compared to last year. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport Nagpur handled approximately 22,14,120 air passengers from January to December 2022, as compared to 15,55,355 air passengers in the same period in 2021, a rise of 6,58,765 air passengers.

The data has been recently uploaded by the Joint Venture International Airport, Nagpur reported by Airports Authority of India (AAI). The above figures consists of only domestic inbound and outbound air passengers from Nagpur airport. International passengers from Nagpur airport have not been taken into account as international flights were suspended during certain months due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic in some parts of the world.

In the year 2020 aviation industry experienced a sharp downturn as the economy was hit by coronavirus pandemic and Government induced lockdown. With this came travel restrictions on the movement of people and temporary suspension of flights from March 25 to May 25, the aviation industry was badly hit.

The air passenger traffic in and out of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport Nagpur witnessed a sharp reduction from January to December 2020 which stood at 12,06,890 compared to 31,24,675 in the year 2019, a difference of 19,17,785 passengers, said another source.

A leading travel agent of the city confidently said that the air passenger traffic would reach pre-COVID levels and surpass those levels as the economy grows. With a number of reforms initiated by the Government this would happen in a gradual manner, the travel agent said. Another travel agent suggested that domestic airlines should increase the number of flights and routes from Nagpur airport as there is tremendous growth in demand for air travel.