The Uttar Pradesh government has announced that 62 crore devotees have taken holy dip in the Maha Kumbh Mela so far. The Prayagraj airport, jointly run by the Indian Air Force and AAI, has set a record in passenger traffic. Here is a news collection about it.
The world’s largest Hindu festival, the Maha Kumbh Mela, will conclude on the 26th. Crores of devotees from all over the world are coming to participate in the grand Hindu festival that lasted for 45 days. So far, 62 crore devotees have taken holy dip in the Triveni Sangam.
Every day, lakhs of people bathe in this Triveni Sangam day and night.
As the closing day of the Maha Kumbh Mela approaches, the arrival of devotees at public transport stations, including the airport in Prayagraj, is expected to increase.
On December 16, 2018, the Prayagraj airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi. The airport began operating from January the following year.
For the Maha Kumbh Mela, the infrastructure of Prayagraj Airport has been improved. In particular, the airport terminal has been expanded from 6,700 square meters to 25,500 square meters. This has enabled 1,080 passengers to arrive and depart during PEAK HOURS without any problems.
In addition, a new terminal building has been opened to accommodate over 1,600 more passengers. This has increased the number of flights connecting Prayagraj to 17 cities.
Last December, Prayagraj Airport was connected to just eight cities. Last January alone, over 60 new flights were introduced. The airport parking capacity has also been increased from 200 to 600 vehicles. The number of check-in counters has also been increased from 8 to 42.
The airport has upgraded lounges, a childcare room and restaurants, including the low-cost Udan Yatri Cafe.
On average, more flights are arriving and departing from Prayagraj airport than the 148 scheduled commercial passenger flights. This is seven times more than the number of flights that normally operate in Prayagraj. Before the Maha Kumbh Mela, only 16 flights were operating per day, carrying less than a thousand passengers.
In 2019, the airport, which handled less than one lakh passengers during the Maha Kumbh Mela, has already crossed the three lakh mark.
From February 1 to 16 alone, a total of 214,593 passengers arrived and departed in 1,288 flights. On an average, Prayagraj airport handled 13,412 passengers and 81 flights per day.
On February 13, 16,310 passengers arrived and departed in 96 flights. On February 16, the number of passengers increased to 20,297.
It is worth mentioning that on February 21 alone, 24,512 passengers travelled from Prayagraj Airport in 236 flights on a single day.
On January 13, the opening day of the Maha Kumbh Mela, Prayagraj Airport handled 4,252 passengers in 33 flights.
Furthermore, from January 13 to February 16, 312,536 passengers arrived and departed in 1,974 flights. That is, 57 flights and an average of 8,929 passengers per day, according to airport statistics.
President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi, including various state governors and chief ministers, members of parliament and legislative assemblies, high-ranking officials of various government departments, heads of international countries and government representatives, and celebrities from various fields are also attending the Maha Kumbh Mela.
Leading businessmen including Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Gautam Adani, Pawan Kant Munjal, Anil Agarwal, and others have taken a holy dip with their families at Triveni Sangam. Also, film celebrities including Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar have also attended the Maha Kumbh Mela.
Notably, American billionaire and wife of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Laurene Powell Jobs, came to Prayagraj in a private plane. She took a holy dip at Triveni Sangam according to Hindu rituals and worshipped.
The last flight from Allahabad to London took off in 1932. This is the first international flight to operate from Prayagraj in 93 years.
The Maha Kumbh Mela, which is a symbol of Indian tradition and unity, has created many achievements.
