New Delhi, Feb 22 : Lauding the increase in the number of airports across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the aviation sector was bringing people closer. Retweeting Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's post of India reaching a new milestone in domestic air passenger movement after the Covid pandemic, Modi said: "More airports and better connectivity... the aviation sector is bringing people closer and boosting national progress." Domestic aviation traffic on February 19 crossed the mark of 4.44 lakh as against the pre-Covid average of 3.98 lakh. Passengers carried by domestic airlines in January 2023 were 1.25 crore as against 64.08 lakhs during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering an annual growth of 95.72 per cent and a monthly growth of 95.72 per cent, according to DGCA data released on Monday. The passenger load factor or occupancy of the airlines remained on the higher side in the range of 80 to 90 per cent. The newly-launched Akasa Air marked an 82.8 per cent occupancy during January. SpiceJet recorded the highest occupancy of 91 per cent, while Indigo witnessed 82 per cent. Air India and Go First followed by 87.5 per cent and 90.9 per cent of occupancy, respectively. The government has gradually done away with various restrictions in the last few months. The country's major airports have witnessed a higher number of air passengers in the last couple of months. Domestic air traffic has already crossed the mark of 4 lakh passengers per day and during weekends it generally reaches more than 4 lakhs. Many airports during December 2022 had witnessed massive rush due to increased air passenger traffic. /IANS