NEW DELHI, Oct 18:
Due to constructive policies of the Centre, domestic air traffic reached its highest level on Sunday since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday.
A total of 3,27,923 passengers travelled on 2,372 flights within India on Sunday, he noted.
Before the pandemic struck, India’s daily domestic air traffic was approximately 4.25 lakh passengers.
The Centre had suspended all scheduled domestic flights from March 25, 2020, to May 25, 2020, as part of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. “Owing to the constructive policies of the government, domestic air traffic has seen the highest level, post the onset of the pandemic,” Scindia tweeted on Monday.
“The civil aviation sector in India thrives amidst unprecedented challenges, whilst we make every effort to return to normalcy as early as possible,” he added. When the government resumed scheduled domestic services on May 25, 2020, it permitted airlines to operate just 33 per cent of their pre-Covid domestic flights.
This capacity was gradually increased with time. Ultimately, on October 12, the Centre announced that airlines can operate domestic flights without any capacity restriction from October 18 onwards. (PTI)