Prayagraj Airport welcomes 55,000+ flyers in Sep '23

The Prayagraj airport announced that the airport had witnessed an unprecedented surge in passenger footfall, with over 55,000 passengers in September. They emphasised that this was the highest number in the past four years since the airport's inauguration in January 2019. Officials pointed out the significance of this achievement, especially considering the decrease in the number of flights this September compared to previous years. According to them, even though September is generally considered an off-season in the airline industry, the Prayagraj airport experienced a remarkable increase in passenger numbers. This marked the first instance since 2019 that the airport's passenger count had surpassed 55,000 in September. The Prayagraj Airport, which became operational just before the formal start of the Kumbh fair in January 2019, has served more than 2.2 million passengers since its inception, as per official records. In contrast, September 2022 saw only about 38,000 passengers despite a higher number of aircraft operating during that month. Airport records indicated that in September 2022, 628 flights operated from the airport, whereas in September 2023, the number was slightly lower at 618. During the off-season months of July to September 2023, Prayagraj airport consistently received an average of over 50,000 passengers each month. These three months collectively registered a traffic of around 1.60 lakh passengers, significantly higher than the 1.20 lakh passengers recorded during the same period in 2022. Comparatively, in 2021, the airport had 1.20 lakh passengers during these months, and in 2020, the count was 97,143, with 88,596 passengers in 2019. Records revealed that in September 2023, a total of 55,465 passengers utilized the airport's services, whereas the numbers stood at 38,350 in September 2022, 33,809 in September 2021, 32,061 in September 2020, and 33,074 passengers in September 2019.