Coronavirus scare: International traffic at Bangalore airport down by 50pc

New Delhi, Mar 12 () Bangalore Airport has seen a 50 per cent dip in international traffic in March amid travel restrictions by a host of countries and subsequent flight cancellations due to coronavirus concerns.

Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), in a statement on Thursday also said domestic passengers volume has also been squeezed by 2-4 per cent and it may dip further if the number of coronavirus cases go up further.

The number of coronavirus patients in India rose to 74 with the reporting of 14 fresh cases from various states as well as one foreign national, according to the Union Health Ministry.

"Traffic at Bangalore Airport has been affected by the Coronavirus, like most other airports globally. International traffic has dropped by 20 per cent from normal levels (before COVID19 was detected) in February and almost by 50 per cent from normal levels in March," BIAL said in a statement.

Against an average daily international passenger volume of around 14,000-15,000, only around 6,000-7,000 international passengers are arriving at Bangalore airport per day, the statement added.

Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the number of international passengers arriving at the country's airports has come down to around 62,000 per day from 70,000 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The count is expected to decline further to 40,000 following the fresh travel restrictions announced by the government on Wednesday.

Although domestic traffic has not shown a dramatic drop, there is already an impact of up to 2-4 per cent on domestic travel.

"We expect to see a further decrease, if more cases emerge in India," the airport operator said.

Bangalore International Airport connects to 57 domestic and 25 international destinations. IAS RAM HRS MRMR