Kolkata airport sees surge in fliers, praise for authorities

 Airline officials said flights in several domestic tourist sectors were full for the first time since the pandemic hit air travel early last year

Calcutta Airport: File picture

SANJAY MANDAL | TT  |  11.10.21:  The city airport saw a sharp rise in passenger count over the last three days as Kolkatans resumed Puja travel after two years.

Long queues were seen outside the terminal on Sunday morning, a sight that brought some relief to airlines.

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The airport officials handled 44,402 passengers on Saturday, officials said. Friday’s count was 47,068.

The number was almost similar on Sunday, said officials. On the eve of last year’s Durga Puja, October 21, the airport saw 33,878 passengers use the terminal.

Airline officials said flights in several domestic tourist sectors were full for the first time since Covid pandemic hit air travel early last year.

“We are expecting full flights tomorrow, too,” wrote an official of the airline operators committee of the Kolkata airport in a WhatApp group of the airport.

“In the pre-pandemic days, we were handling 70,000 passengers daily on an average. The figure went down sharply. A few days back, there would be 36,000 passengers every day and we are happy to have the number surging to around 45,000 during the pre-Puja days,” airport director C. Pattabhi said.

A SpiceJet official said they had full flights to places like Goa, Bagdogra and Port Blair, along with Delhi and Mumbai.

Air India has resumed its Puja menu, to be served on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The items on offer include murgir kalia, chhanar dalna, basanti polao, radhaballavi, mangsher rezala, mishti doi, rajbhog and chhanar paayesh.

“Last year we had only served sweets,” said an official of the airline.

“It was good to see a crowded airport again. The authorities were managing the crowd well. They are ensuring everyone wears a mask,” said industrialist Sanjay Budhia who was traveling to Udaipur on a family vacation.