TRICHY: Trichy airport has handled more than a lakh passengers in May this year, majority of them are international passengers. The airport has surpassed its earlier record achieved early this year when the numbers touched around 90,000. The figures show that the airport has a good potential for growth, say experts.
Five international airlines operate services from Trichy, majority of the flights are to South East Asian countries. There are no direct flights to the Middle East, travellers have to depend on a Sri Lankan airlines service that flies via Colombo.
The airport receives at least 250 passengers daily. According to the data released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Trichy international airport handled about 98,178 international passengers in May and 6,512 domestic passengers. The airport had previously recorded 1 lakh passengers in January this year. Airport officials are happy that passenger traffic has been growing almost consistently at the airport. "This is the time to speed up plans to expand the facility," said an airline official.
Trichy airport is a gateway for leisure and trade travellers from the region to fly abroad. "Several families travel to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for holidays during weekends," he added.
D Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) said that the airport was seeing an increase in passengers because international airlines like Air Asia and Tiger Airways have begun services. "Low cost carriers make it convenient for passengers to plan international trip. There is no need to come to Chennai because it is an expensive airport due to user development fee and other charges. Majority of the people belonging to upcountry Tamil Nadu use Trichy airport to fly abroad ."