Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi

The Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi was the world’s second busiest airport in March this year in terms of the total number of domestic and international flights handled, said Official Airline Guide (OAG), a global travel data provider, in its recent report. “Whilst Atlanta retains its position at the top of the list, Dubai was knocked out of second place in the month of March 2022 by New Delhi which moved up from third place in February,” the OAG’s report mentioned. The Delhi airport was in the 23rd place in March 2019, before the pandemic hit the world, it added. In March this year, airports in Atlanta in the United States, New Delhi in India and Dubai in the UAE handled 4.42 million, 3.61 million and 3.55 million passengers respectively, it mentioned.

In a statement, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delhi Airport International Limited (DIAL), said, “COVID-19 pandemic had hit the world hard. Travel restrictions had affected the travel and tourism sectors very badly for two consecutive years.” “But now, with the rise in the number of vaccinated people across the world, governments are easing travel restrictions and slowly opening up their borders,” he said, “India has last month opened up its borders and allowed the entry of fully vaccinated international travellers into the country without any restrictions.” The CEO DIAL added, “These steps have largely helped the travel and tourism industry and have provided a significant boost to air travel that was very badly needed by the Indian airline industry.”