 "Migrant workers make Dubai-Mumbai busiest international air route")
The Dubai-Mumbai air sector witnessed the highest flow of passengers at about 2.5 million during the 2017-18 financial year, primarily led by migrant workers, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The route took the pole position in a list of top 10 international destinations that are connected to Indian cities by both Indian and foreign air carriers.
The data showed that United Arab Emirates -- with Dubai as one of the key cities -- constituted almost half of the total international seats from India during the 2017-18 fiscal, "primarily led by migrant workers and business market in the Middle East".
The Dubai-Mumbai sector was followed by the Dubai-Delhi sector with about two million passenger movement. The Dubai-Kochi sector came next with just over one million passenger flow, the data showed.
The growing appeal of Bangkok as a travellers' paradise was reflected in the data compiled by the ministry, as the Delhi-Bangkok route came at the fourth place with about one million passengers travelling between these two cities during the financial year. The Dubai-Hyderabad route came in at the fifth place and it was followed by the London-Delhi route.
According to the data, the London-Mumbai route took the seventh spot, followed by Dubai-Chennai, Singapore-Chennai and Colombo-Chennai, respectively.
In the domestic sector, Mumbai-Delhi route, considered one of the busiest airline corridors in Asia Pacific region, topped the chart with seven million air passengers travelling in this sector during the last financial year.
Bengaluru-Delhi sector followed next with just over four million passengers and Bengaluru-Mumbai sector came in at the third place with close to four million passenger movements, the data showed.