Outbound passenger count crosses 4,000 at Bagdogra Airport

MP | 23 April 2018 | Kolkata: The outbound passenger load at Bagdogra Airport has crossed the mark of 4,000 on Sunday.

With a sharp increase in the passenger load at Bagdogra Airport, the outbound passenger count on Sunday was 4,011.

It may be mentioned that recently, the announcement of two additional flights of AirAsia from the airport had come and it had taken the total number of flights to 26. The two additional flights are connecting Bagdogra directly with Delhi and Kolkata.

According to the experts, the passenger load is expected to go up further with the summer vacation approaching, as people will choose to visit Darjeeling and Sikkim with schools and colleges remaining closed.

It may be recalled that the Mamata Banerjee government has waived the tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and it has helped increase the number of flight operations from Bagdogra. Moreover, the development of necessary infrastructure for tourism in North Bengal has also ensured a constant flow of tourists in the region. A large section of tourists now prefer flights to reach their destination, as it saves time.

It was on February 23 that Bagdogra Airport set a new record of crossing the 2 million passenger count in the last fiscal. Moreover, the Chief Minister herself was the 2 millionth passenger, when she took a flight from Bagdogra Airport to return to Kolkata after her North Bengal tour.

Bagdogra Airport had witnessed a record increase of passengers by 53 percent in April-December in 2017, compared to that of the corresponding period in 2016, when around 10.61 lakh passengers had availed flights from the airport from April to December. In 2017, the figure went up to 16.28 lakh, which is an increase of over 50 percent.

With the increase in passenger count, better passenger amenities have also been ensured at the airport.