New Delhi, Jul 1 (IANS): After a significant drop in traffic due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Delhi Airport on Thursday said that it has started witnessing growth in passenger numbers slowly but steadily post relaxation in lockdown and travel norms by various states in June.

Most of those who flew were in the 'visiting family and friends' category (48 per cent), followed by 'vacation' (25 per cent) and 'business' (19 per cent) travellers.

In June 2020, after the gradual lifting of the two-month long country-wide lockdown, majority of air travellers were in the 'visiting family and friends' category, followed by 'business' travellers.

"Those going for vacation were only 2 per cent in June 2020. During pre-Covid times (in June 2019), around 44 per cent flyers were vacationers, while 41 per cent were in visiting family and friends category," the Delhi Airport said in a statement.

"Delhi Airport has witnessed over three times rise in domestic passenger numbers from around 18,000 per day in mid-May 2021 to over 62,000 per day at the end of June 2021," it said.

Similarly, the number of international travelers grew from around 4,500 per day in mid-May to nearly 7,500 per day in June end.

"Mumbai, Patna, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Leh, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Jammu and Kashmir have emerged as the top 10 destinations from Delhi in May and June 2021," the Delhi Airport said.

"DIAL has also installed AI-based passenger tracking system, which sends alerts to terminal staff if it detects any breach of social distancing norms at the entry gates, check-in, security check and security hold areas," it added.