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

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 furr if number of coronavirus cases go up furr.

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

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

Against an aver 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, statement ded.

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

count is expected to decline furr to 40,000 following fresh travel restrictions anunced by government on Wednesday.

Although domestic traffic has t shown a dramatic drop, re is alrey an impact of up to 2-4 per cent on domestic travel.

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

Bangalore International Airport connects to 57 domestic and 25 international destinations.