Mangaluru International Airport records increase in passenger traffic
Mangaluru (PTI): Different airlines operating from Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on domestic and international routes recorded good passenger traffic.
In the first five months of the present financial year, IndiGo and Air India registered passenger load of 87.5 per cent on the domestic destinations they connect directly.
On international routes, Air India Express and IndiGo recorded 81.7 per cent passenger traffic, a press release issued by MIA said.
Against a seating capacity of 3,21,554 on flights landing at Mangaluru from Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune, IndiGo and Air India had 2,80,739 passengers.
Arrivals from Mumbai saw the highest traffic with 1,12,973 passengers travelling against a seating capacity of 1,23,836. Pune had the least load factor of 69 per cent with 11,078 travellers against 16,062 seats on offer, it said.
For domestic flights departing from MIA, Chennai and Hyderabad recorded passenger loads of 89.91 per cent and 89.66 per cent respectively. A total of 10,520 passengers travelled to Chennai against 11,700 seats on offer, while Hyderabad saw 21,370 passengers travel against the available 23,836 seats. Mumbai came third with a load factor of 87.3 per cent with 1,08,695 travelling against 1,23,836 seats on offer.
On the international sector, the airlines recorded a passenger load of 81.7 per cent for 1,10,823 passengers arriving from Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait and Muscat between April and August. The seats on offer for those destinations in these five months were 1,35,626.
The departure load factor for the above destinations from MIA was 83.3 per cent with 1,12,930 passengers travelling against a capacity of 1,35,449.
Arrivals from Dubai to Mangaluru saw airlines ferry 67,538 passengers against a capacity of 76,841, a passenger load of 88.26 per cent. Abu Dhabi was the next busiest, with an arriving passenger load of 85.65 per cent (13,414 travellers against 15,660 capacity).
Abu Dhabi emerged as the most sought-after international destination from Mangaluru, recording a load factor of 90.12 per cent with 14,276 passengers travelling against 15,840 seats on offer.
A total of 1,66,047 passengers travelled in August, both domestically and abroad. The arrival load factor to the 13 destinations was 83 per cent with 79,377 passengers travelling against 96,837 seats on offer.
Departures saw a load factor of 90 per cent with 86,670 passengers emplaning against 96,837 seats on offer. With additional domestic flights scheduled in the upcoming winter schedule, more people are expected to travel to and from Mangaluru, the release said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
