The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday said domestic airlines can operate 60 per cent of their pre-Covid flights till February 24 next year. The decision has been taken by the Civil Aviation Ministry due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country.
The Ministry had informed the airlines about the 60 per cent limit through an official order on September 2 but it had not told them the period for which the cap would remain in place.
On October 29, the Ministry issued a new order clarifying that the September 2 order “shall remain in force until February 24, 2021 or until further orders” due to the “prevailing situation of Covid-19”. On June 26, the Ministry had allowed the airlines to operate a maximum of 45 per cent of their pre-Covid domestic flights. In the last 24 hours (till Wednesday morning), India recorded 46,253 fresh cases of the infection as against 38,310 on Tuesday.
The Ministry had resumed domestic services from May 25, after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. However, the airlines were allowed to operate not more than 33 per cent of their pre-Covid flights.
Modifying its previous order of June 26 where it had put the 45 per cent limit on the number of domestic flights, the Ministry issued an order on September 2 stating that, “45 per cent capacity may be read as 60 per cent capacity.” Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country since March 23 due to the pandemic.
However, special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble pacts signed with various countries since July.