After a significant drop in traffic due to lockdown and travel restrictions imposed by many states due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi IGI Airport has slowly witnessed growth in passenger numbers but steadily post relaxation in lockdown and travel norms in various states in June. 48% of the travellers fall under Visiting Family and Friends category, followed by 25% Vacationers and 19% Business travellers.
In June 2020, after the gradual lifting of the two-month-long country-wide lockdown, most air travellers were of Visiting Family and Friends, followed by Business travellers, while Vacationers were only 2%. During pre-COVID times (in June 2019), around 44% of flyers were Vacationers, while 41% visited Family and Friends.
Delhi Airport has witnessed over three times rise in domestic passenger traffic from around 18,000 per day in mid-May 2021 to over 62,000 per day at the end of June 2021. Similarly, the number of international passenger traffic increased from around 4,500 per day in mid-May 2021 to nearly 7,500 per day in June 2021.
The Delhi Airport rules and the implementation of several safety measures ensure a safe, smooth and contactless journey at the Airport terminal. These precautions include sanitization of terminals, deep and frequent cleaning of lift, elevators, handrails, glass walls, trolleys, CUSS machines, counters, washrooms, and boarding gates using disinfectants and UV light towers.
Besides this, auto-dispensing hand sanitizers and disinfectant mats have been placed at strategic locations, and Bio-Medical waste bins have been deployed. Sneeze shields have been installed at all airline counters and CISF checkpoints to minimize the risk of virus transmission.
In India, Delhi Airport is the 1st Airport in the country that introduced the use of Luminometers. Luminometers are susceptible devices that can measure even weak emissions of visible light coming from a sample using a photomultiplier tube. It ensures the surfaces of the high contact areas are clean, safe and hygienic and free from any living or dead bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms after disinfection exercise.
The Delhi Airport terminals use floor marking at various places to ensure social distancing. Announcements are made at regular intervals of 5 to 15 minutes, advising passengers to follow COVID protocols of wearing masks, frequent sanitization of hands and maintaining social distance.
An AI-based passenger tracking system is installed at Delhi Airport, which sends alerts to the terminal staff on detecting any breach of social distancing norms at the entry gate; check-in, security check and security hold areas. Fresh air is injected inside the Delhi Airport terminal every 10 minutes after passing it through HEPA filters and UV-C lighting, which cleans the air from any pollutants.
The travellers appreciated all these efforts of Delhi Airport. During a recent survey on Passenger experience at Delhi Airport, 51% of passengers felt EXTREMELY CONFIDENT while 48% were confident while travelling through Delhi Airport. During a recent survey on Passenger experience at Delhi Airport, about 99% flyers felt CONFIDENT of flying from Delhi Airport.
