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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Sculptor Ram Sutar, designer of Statue of Unity, passes away
New Delhi (PTI): Noted sculptor Ram Sutar, known for designing the world's tallest statue — Statue of Unity — in Gujarat, passed away late on Wednesday night at his Noida residence, his son said.
He was 100 and ailing with age-related illnesses.
"It is with profound grief that we inform you of the passing of my father Shri Ram Vanji Sutar on 17th December midnight at our residence," his son Anil Sutar said in a note shared with the press on Thursday.
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Born in a humble family in Gondur village under the Dhule district of present-day Maharashtra on February 19, 1925, Sutar is known to have been drawn to sculpting from his childhood.
A gold medallist from JJ School of Art and Architecture, Mumbai, Sutar, has to his credit a long list of achievements.
The iconic statues of Mahatma Gandhi seated in a meditating pose and of Chhatrapati Shivaji riding a horse on the Parliament premises rank among his finest creations.
The Statue of Unity honours Sardar Patel, country's first deputy prime minister and home minister.
Sutar was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.
Recently, Sutar was conferred with the Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar, the state's highest award.
