Mangaluru: The Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) has advised passengers to allocate additional time for travel to the airport, due to heavy passenger traffic. The passenger flow for both arrivals and departures is likely to be high till January 15.

According to MIA officials, the additional allocation of time will help passengers in having a smooth journey, and to complete mandatory travel related formalities and security protocols on time.

Currently, international passengers are required to arrive at least five hours before departure, and domestic passengers must be there at the airport, two hours prior to departure. “With a rush expected, international as well domestic passengers arriving to MIA must allocate at least an hour extra. As of now, both international and domestic flights are running with an overall 90% occupancy rate,” said a senior executive of a low-cost airline.

Heavy rush will start from January 1 onwards, and continue till January 15. Despite the odd timings, tickets for the Kuwait-Mangaluru flight and Mangaluru-Dammam flights have been sold out.

The rush is expected, especially for those travelling after 7pm on Mondays, and from January 8 onwards. “The rush will be there till 11pm, since 18 flights will depart and arrive, with a total of 1,200 passengers,” said an aviation expert.

Passengers said that construction work at the spot where the airport will have a dedicated arrivals area, was inconveniencing passengers who were landing at the airport.

SpiceJet will add a new flight from Mangaluru to Sharjah from January 8. It is a four-weekly flight, that will operate on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Bookings have started for the same.