Mangaluru International Airport handles record number of passengers in Dec 2023
Mangaluru: The Mangaluru International Airport has handled the highest-ever number of passengers in December 2023, hosting 2.03 lakh travellers in a month since the commercial operation of the airport began on October 31, 2020, the MIA said.
The airport also handled a record 7,548 passengers in a single day on December 31, bettering the previous mark of 7,468 passengers handled on November 25.
Contributing to the record 2.03 lakh passenger mark is the fact that MIA clocked 12 days in December when it handled 7,000 plus passengers with the 7,548 passengers handled on New Year's Eve being the highest, a release from MIA said.
The bulk of this 7,000 plus passenger travel came during the weekends-- December 9-10, 16-17, 23-25 and 30-31.
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The airport recorded footfalls of 7,089, 7,220 and 7,034 respectively in the three days up to Christmas.
The airport in November 2023 handled 1.78 lakh passengers, which is now the best since the commercial operation date (COD).
"The rising numbers is a clear indicator that aviation travel, domestically and internationally, is on the upswing and MIA is proud to play its role in this growth. The airlines--Air India, Air India Express and IndiGo too, are playing their roles in this resurgence," the release said.
The general increase in air traffic movements (ATMs) has been observed since October 29, 2023, when the winter schedule came into effect.
The MIA recorded 1,388 ATMs in December 2023 including 1,096 domestic movements.
The uptick in business and leisure travel has contributed to the steadily increasing footfalls at the airport, which currently provides connectivity to nine domestic and seven international destinations respectively, the release said.
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Cummins doubtful for T20 World Cup? It's quite grey right now, says Aus head coach
Melbourne (PTI): Australia skipper Pat Cummins' chances of playing at next year's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka are "quite grey at the moment" as he battles a back stress issue that has affected his participation in the ongoing Ashes series against England.
Cummins returned to play the third Ashes Test in Adelaide after missing the opening two matches, picking up six wickets to help Australia clinch the series 3-0.
However, the Australian Test and ODI skipper will take no further part in the series and even his participation at the T20 World Cup is also uncertain. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh is Australia's T20I captain.
"Looking forward to the World Cup, whether he will be there or not, I can't really say. It's quite grey at the moment. We're hopeful," head coach Andrew McDonald was quoted as saying by 'ESPNCricinfo'.
The fast bowler was diagnosed with a lumbar stress reaction during Australia's tour of the West Indies in July. He underwent rehabilitation before being cleared for a carefully managed return in Adelaide.
"He's pulled up fine. He won't play any part in the rest of the series and that was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return," McDonald said.
"We were taking on some risk and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We've now won the series and that was the goal.
"So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do and Pat's really comfortable with that," he added.
The T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin on February 7 across India and Sri Lanka with the summit clash set for March 8.
Australia's first match is on February 11 against Ireland at Colombo. Although Cummins captains the Test and ODI teams, all-rounder Mitch Marsh leads Australia in the shortest format.
