Mamata marks herself as 2 millionth passenger at Bagdogra Airport

Kolkata: Bagdogra Airport has set a new record of crossing the 2 million passenger count in the current financial year.

The authorities of the airport are also elated as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee marked herself as the 2 millionth passenger, as she took a flight from Bagdogra Airport to return to Kolkata on Friday, after her North Bengal tour.

She has also been felicitated by the airport's director Rakesh Sahay, who narrated to the Chief Minister how her policy of waiving tax on aviation fuel (ATF), has helped in a sharp growth in passenger load in the airport. At the same time, the increase in flow of tourists in both Dooars and Darjeeling has also ensured more passengers for the airport.

Sahay also thanked the Chief Minister for all her support to introduce the night landing facility in the airport. The facility is going to be in place from March 29.

With the introduction of the facility, the passenger load at Bagdogra Airport is expected to grow further.

This is the first time in the history of Bagdogra Airport when the passenger load has crossed 2 million. It may be mentioned that in May 2017, the monthly passenger load at Bagdogra Airport had crossed 2 lakh, which had also happened for the first time ever.

The airport authority has prepared a database, by compiling passenger counts of all the months since April 2017 and it showed a sharp growth, eventually touching the 2 million mark.

In most of the months, the passenger count remained high in the 2017-18 fiscal, compared to that of the corresponding months of the previous financial year. The passenger load was around 1.8 lakh in May 2016, that went up to more than 2 lakh in 2017.

At present, there are direct flight service from Bagdogra to Mumbai and Bangalore. Interestingly, all flights operate full of passengers from Bagdogra, as a result of which, more airlines are keen to introduce their services from the airport and it would become possible with introduction of the night landing facility.