Flight operations and overall revenue badly hit at Coimbatore International Airport: Only 16 flights operated each day!
Coimbatore: Withdrawal of services by SpiceJet temporarily and steep rise in the 'Covid-19' infections has very badly hit the Flight operations at Coimbatore. Each day only 16 flights are operated. Post pandemic outbreak the overall revenue has also been heavily affected.
Before the pandemic outbreak yearly 30 lakh people were using the airport. Inspite various relaxations being given, the normalcy is yet to return at the airport. During May 2020, only 5 flights were operated every day. Few months ago the number increased to 20. This gave everyone some hope but suddenly SpiceJet withdrew all its services at Coimbatore temporarily. Also in the past few weeks the Covid-19 infections also continue to increase abnormally.
All these factors have made a big impact on the flight operations. At present only 16 flights are operated every day. Whereas on the other side monthly cargo movement at the airport alone is showing some positive growth. Overall the pandemic outbreak has made a big impact on the flight movements and the revenue.
Coimbatore International Airport Director, R. Mahalingam said,"Post pandemic outbreak the overall growth has been hit. At present only 50% of the operations are going on. We hope situations will change after the second week of April. Withdrawal of services by SpiceJet airlines temporarily is one of the main reasons for the decline in the number of flights operated every day. As far as cargo operations are concerned, during 2021 January 557.23 tonnes were handled, during February 711.94 tonnes of cargo were handled. It shows some steady increase. Overall the impact of the pandemic outbreak has very badly hit on the revenue also."