Indian government increases domestic flight capacity to 65 per cent

Jul 06,2021

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Government of India has increased the capacity of domestic flights to 65 per cent from 50 per cent. The amendment has been made owing to the increasing passengers’ demand for domestic air travel, stated the aviation ministry.

The order dated July 5 reads “After the review of the current status of scheduled domestic operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel in terms of the purpose specified in previous order 01/2020 dated 25.05.2020… 50 per cent capacity may be read as 65 per cent capacity.”

The order shall be applicable up to July 31 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

The domestic flight capacity was reduced from 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels to 50 per cent from June 1, to safeguard the viability of airlines with weak finances as domestic air passenger traffic had fallen after the second wave of the pandemic.

However, with the cases reducing now and relaxations being announced across the country, the demand for domestic air travel has picked up again.

Elaborating on this, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in the latest tweet, “Domestic aviation operations continue with all Covid Protocols in place. Number of domestic passengers increases as flying emerges as a preferred, safe and time saving mode of transport. On July 4 2021-1,74,905 passengers on 1,467 flights. Total flight movements: 2,938.”