PANAJI
Goa’s international air connectivity has taken a far bigger hit than the national aviation market as passenger traffic plunged 69 per cent at Dabolim and 42 per cent at Manohar International Airport, Mopa during the April-June quarter.
The steep fall at both Goa airports comes at a time when the April-June period generally benefits from holiday and leisure travel, with the State promoting tourism year-round.
The latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows that international passenger traffic from India declined by around 10 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year. But the impact on Indian carriers was substantially greater, with international passengers carried by domestic airlines falling 27 per cent year-on-year.
Foreign airlines, in contrast, recorded a 6 per cent rise in international passenger traffic. This widened the gap between Indian and foreign carriers, with the former’s share of international passengers falling from 46 per cent to 37 per cent.
The sharp percentage fall in Goa, however, has to be viewed against the relatively smaller international flight base at these airports, where the withdrawal or reduction of a limited number of services can result in a substantial year-on-year change.
Several other Tier-2 airports also recorded sizeable declines, including Surat, Chandigarh, Indore, Kannur and Pune.
The contraction in international traffic has also been uneven among Indian airlines. Akasa Air recorded a 26 per cent increase in international passengers, while IndiGo registered a 15 per cent decline. Air India Express and SpiceJet recorded much steeper falls of 51 per cent and 56 per cent respectively.
“The reduction in Air India Express operations has been particularly significant for international connectivity, given its extensive network to Gulf destinations. Its operations were affected by the conflict in West Asia, alongside higher fuel prices and other operational pressures that led to capacity reductions,” the DGCA official said.
The decline at Goa’s airports stands in contrast to the relatively modest changes at several major metropolitan airports. Kolkata recorded an increase, while Delhi remained broadly stable. Bengaluru registered a 3.9 per cent decline, followed by Mumbai at 5.3 per cent, Chennai at 7.9 per cent and Hyderabad at 10 per cent.
