Punjab’s Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport Amritsar is touching new heights every day. The airport has set a new record by registering the highest ever international passenger traffic in January 2025.
Sharing information in this regard, Sameep Singh Gamtala, Global Convener of Fly Amritsar Initiative, which is striving for the development of the airport and more flights, said that the airport has registered the highest ever international passenger traffic of 1.14 lakh in January 2025. Earlier, the highest number of 1.11 lakh passengers was registered in December 2024. The number of passengers in January 2025 is 17.1% more than the 96.9 thousand passengers registered in 2024.
According to Gumtala, analysis of the latest data released by the Airports Authority of India has revealed that domestic traffic has also witnessed a strong growth of 19.5% with a total of 2.10 lakh passengers. In January 2024, this number was 1.76 lakh passengers. The total number of passengers in the month of January was about 3.24 lakh which is 18.6% more than the 2.73 lakh passengers in January 2024. January 2025 now stands at the third position in the total number of passengers. The highest number of 3.4 lakh passengers was recorded in December 2024 and the second number was 3.38 lakh passengers in December 2023.
He further said that the main reason for this increase is the new flights launched by Thai Lion Air and Air India Express to Bangkok by the end of 2024, increased number of flights by Air India to Birmingham, Neos Air to Milan and Malaysia Airlines to Kuala Lumpur, and more Punjabis preferring direct international flights to Amritsar instead of going to Delhi.
According to the data, the total number of international flights increased by 20.2% from 510 in January 2024 to 610 in January 2025. Domestic flight traffic also increased by 16.4%, increasing its number from 1,188 in January 2024 to 1,383 in 2025.
In view of the increasing passenger traffic, Gumtala has emphasized the need for immediate expansion of the terminal as well as improvement of parking and other passenger facilities. He also expressed disappointment that despite the daily passenger traffic of over 10,000 and countless appeals, the Punjab government has not yet fulfilled the long-standing demand to start bus services. The start of bus services can make access to the airport from various cities of Punjab easier and cheaper. Amritsar Airport currently has direct air connectivity with 10 international and 12 domestic airports including London, Birmingham, Milan, Rome, Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok.
