Mangaluru: Mangaluru International Airport ticked all the right boxes in areas which define growth for an airport – passengers handled and air traffic movements (ATMs) – for the financial year 2023-2024. This is in line with global and national trends which has seen robust growth in aviation sector ever since the global pandemic served as the travel disruptor. In doing so, the airport has handled the highest passengers and ATMs since commercial operation date (CoD).

The airport during FY 2023-24 handled 20,18,796 passengers as against 17,94,054 passengers in the previous fiscal, a growth of 12.5%. The number of domestic travellers was 14,08,300 and international travellers stood at 6,10,496. Domestic travellers increased by 16.5% in FY 23-24 than the previous financial year. Likewise, international travellers from Mangaluru International Airport in FY 2023-24 too were 4.2% higher than what was recorded in the previous FY.

The ATMs during FY 2023-24 at 15,113 was 4.4% higher than the 14,475 ATMs handled during the previous fiscal. General aviation (chartered flights) grew at 37.7% in the last fiscal where the airport handled 365 flights, which was 100 more than what the airport handled in FY 2022-23. The increase in domestic ATMs despite the multiple challenges that airline operating to the airport faced was an impressive 11.7%. More passengers travelled internationally despite a fall in overseas ATMs.

The highlight of domestic and international travel came in December 2023 where the airport handled a record 2.03-lakh passengers, which is the highest ever single month movement of passengers since CoD. On the ATM front, Mangaluru International Airport handled a record 1550 ATMs in March 2024, the highest ever in a monthly since CoD. This was primarily due to a move by an airline to use more ATRs instead of Airbus in the Bengaluru-Mangaluru sector.

Boeing 737 max through connectivity between Chennai and Mangaluru

Air India Express has provided a narrow-bodied aircraft (Boeing 737 Max) one-way through connectivity between Chennai and Mangaluru via Bengaluru in the summer schedule that got underway on March 31. IX 782 will depart Chennai at 9.45am and reach Bengaluru at 10.40am. This flight in turn will depart Bengaluru as IX 782 at 11.15am and reach Mangaluru at 12.15pm. IndiGo in the summer is operating two direct daily flights to Chennai using ATRs.