The Delhi airport was the world's second-busiest airport in March in terms of domestic and international flights handled, said Official Airline Guide (OAG), a global travel data provider, in its recent report. "Whilst Atlanta retains its position as largest, Dubai is knocked out of second place this month (March) by Delhi which moves up from third place last month (February)," the OAG's report mentioned.

The Delhi airport was on 23rd place in March 2019 before the pandemic, it added. In March this year, airports in Atlanta in the US, Delhi in India and Dubai in the UAE handled 4.42 million, 3.61 million and 3.55 million seats, it mentioned.

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In a statement, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, Delhi Airport International Limited (DIAL), said, "COVID-19 pandemic had hit the world hard. Travel restrictions had badly affected the travel and tourism sectors for two consecutive years."

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But now, with the rise in the number of vaccinated people across the world, governments are easing travel restrictions and slowly opening up their borders, he said. "India has last month opened its borders and allowed the entry of fully vaccinated international travellers into the country," he said. These steps have largely helped the travel and tourism industry and given a much-needed boost to air travel, he said.

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)