Bhubaneswar: Daily passenger count at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) has crossed 15,000 this winter, up from 14,000 last year.
Airport director Prasanna Pradhan said passenger footfall since the first week of Jan has taken a vertical jump. “Winter schedule of airlines are running well, and the flights are booked to capacity in domestic flying. Since 2022, many new cities have been connected with Bhubaneswar, thus expanding the domestic air traffic. At present, we have 52 departures and an equal number of arrivals on a given day,” Pradhan said.
Last year, Bhubaneswar airport witnessed passenger footfall of 46.2 lakh, up from the 45 lakh it had clocked in 2023. Last year, a target had been set to achieve five million annual footfall, but was not possible. “But in 2025, we will be able to achieve the five million annual footfall target,” Pradhan added.
In 2022-23, the airport recorded 30,745 aircraft movements (scheduled operations), but in 2023-24, it went up to 35,368 aircraft.
With four domestic destinations — Patna, Lucknow, Kochin, and Jaipur — recently added and Dehradun and Indore to be connected to Bhubaneswar in Feb, there is optimism of meeting the target.