Number of domestic flights may reach up to 60% of pre-COVID levels by Diwali this year: Hardeep Singh Puri

New Delhi: Union aviation minister Hardeep Puri exuded confidence that India the number of domestic flights will get back to 55-60 percent of pre-COVID levels by Diwali this year.

"We are assuming that by the time Diwali comes this year, we would have 55-60 per cent of pre-COVID domestic flights operating in India," Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said a press conference in the national capital.

“I had imagined we would reach 33 per cent of our domestic capacity by July 15 but we have not,” the minister said.

Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. After nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the government resumed scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25. However, it had then allowed the airlines to operate maximum 33 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) increased the limits on June 26 from 33 per cent to 45 per cent.

Various states like Maharashtra have put restrictions on the number of flights that their airports can handle per day, he said, adding that he expects this would change in coming 2-3 weeks. He said once the domestic capacity reaches 50-55 per cent of its pre-COVID capacity, the government will get the confidence about opening international air travel further.

The fact of the matter is that international flights will take place between bigger metros in India and outside locations, the minister mentioned. Giving the example of the Mumbai airport, he said if more international flights are allowed to Mumbai, those passengers will need forward flights to go to other places in India but that will be a constraint as the airport handles only 50 flights per day.

India has established individual bilateral bubbles with France, Germany and the US that will allow airlines of each country in the pact to operate international flights, said the Civil Aviation Minister said, adding that a similar arrangement with the UK will soon be permitted.