Nagpur: Private chartered flight movements at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport more than tripled between 2021 and 2025, crossing 5,400 last year, with April, May, Nov and Dec accounting for nearly half of all domestic charter traffic, information obtained by TOI revealed.Domestic charter arrivals and departures climbed from 1,588 in 2021 to 5,439 in 2025, a rise of nearly three and a half times in five years.The data shows a sharp and repeating seasonal pattern. April, May, Nov and Dec were each busier than the year’s average month in four of the five years. Together, these four months accounted for 7,650 of the 16,139 domestic charter movements recorded over five years, or 47%, though they make up only a third of the calendar. November and December are the months when Nagpur experiences a high volume of visitors and VIP movement because of the annual winter session of the state legislature being held in the city. April and May are the summer vacation months when many of Nagpur’s elite move out to cooler destinations.April and Nov were the only two months to record an increase every single year. April movements rose from 142 in 2021 to 163, 452, 472 and 637 in 2025. Nov climbed from 114 to 230, 286, 492 and 769.Nov 2025 was the busiest month in the five-year period, with 384 domestic arrivals and 385 departures. May 2023 was second at 762 movements, followed by May 2025 at 737.The monsoon months were consistently the thinnest. June to Sept accounted for 4,133 domestic movements, about a quarter of the five-year total, despite covering a third of the year. Sept 2021, with 60 movements, was the quietest month recorded.Growth nearly plateaued in 2024, with domestic movements rising marginally from 3,422 to 3,462, before jumping 57% to 5,439 in 2025.
