Govt. increases domestic flights’ cap from 70% to 80% of pre-COVID levels

Domestic airlines altogether saw nearly 3  lakh passengers per day before COVID- 19 brought commercial flights to a standstill. (Source: B. VELANKANNI RAJ)

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday announced that airlines could fly 80% of flights operated pre COVID-19, raising it from the existing 70%.

"Domestic operations recommenced with 30K passengers on 25 May & have now touched a high of 2.52 lakhs on 30 Nov 2020," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Puri tweeted.

Domestic airlines altogether saw nearly 3  lakh passengers per day before COVID- 19 brought commercial flights to a standstill.

For airlines to now reach 2.5 lakh flights daily is an indicator thar 80% of passengers are back and is used by the government to express confidence in the revival of the sector. International flights are yet to resume though nearly 22 countries are connected through special bilateral arrangements which allow the airlines of two countries to offer direct flights.