Until May this year, the airport handled only one international service to Singapore for about seven months witnessing over 10,000 passengers at the old airport terminal which has been converted into the makeshift international terminal.
However, the Central government’s Vande Bharat Mission (VMB) to bring back Indians stuck in various nations during the pandemic has necessitated the city airport to rise to the occasion even with meager staff and facilities.Between May 20 and July 29, the airport handled 73 international flights and 10,244 passengers from various countries on 46 operational days. The international airlines that made direct landings in the airport include Jazeera Airways, Kuwait Airways, FlyDubai, Air Arabia, Salam Air and a few others besides Indian airlines Air India Express, Indigo, Air India, and SpiceJet according to the reports published in aviationindia.net.
“When compared to all established airports, the city airport has limited infrastructure to handle international passengers. Currently, we are operating in the terminal spreading over 3,600 square meters. Handling two services a week had been challenging then and now we are handling three to four flights a day by incorporating COVID screening facilities and other additional services in the same space,” airport director G. Madhusudhan Rao told The Hindu.
“The resumption of services was with the VBM scheme and now we are receiving more chartered flights arranged by the State government, employers of the returnees or NGOs. We are ensuring smooth operations though we have only one team each for customs, immigration, medical and airport staff. It has been a team effort of all the wings,” he added. Besides international terminal staff, nearly 120 personnel of various wings work at the airport.
