India''s international aircraft movements edged lower in November but passenger traffic rose.
Data compiled by state-controlled Airports Authority of India show international aircraft movement of 20,260 in November, slightly down from 20,400 in October. This was the first slip after four months of increases.
Aircraft movement was lower than the 38,710 seen in pre-pandemic November 2019 but was up from 13,060 during the same time last year, the data show.
Passenger traffic on international routes rose to 2.51mn last month, up from 2.22mn in October and 1.05mn in November 2020 but down compared with 6.06mn in the same month of 2019.
The emergence of the Covid-19 Omicron variant is weighing on travellers' sentiment. Earlier this month, India extended the suspension of scheduled commercial international passenger services until the end of January 2022, but scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis.
