In a big respite for the
aviation industry, the government today announced that domestic flight operations within the country will start in a calibrated manner from Monday next week.
“Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday 25th May 2020. All airports & air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May. SOPs (standard operating procedures) for passenger movement are also being separately issued by civil aviation ministry,” aviation minister
Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted on Wednesday.
Aviation in India is grounded since March 25, 2020, after the government announced lockdown to contain the spread of Corona Virus within the country.
The restart of flights is a big positive for Indian airlines, which are struggling financially due to groundings that has led to huge revenue loss for airlines.
However, it was not immediately clear as to what all routes will airlines be allowed to operate in the initial phase, as all that details are being worked out as airlines will be deciding on routes.
Airlines say that details of flights will be worked out depending on bookings on flights and many flights to a single destination may be merged.
It was, however, not clear whether opposition from states are being overruled to allow flighst to cities like Mumbai. The Maharashtra government had opposed any move to restart flights to its cities, as they feel it would undermine their attempt to contain rising cases of
coronavirus in their state.