New Delhi: Domestic airlines can now operate at 70 per cent of their pre-COVID capacity instead of 60 per cent as approved previously, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced on Wednesday.
“Domestic operations recommenced with 30K passengers on 25 May & have reached 2.06 lakhs on 8 November,” Puri said via a tweet.
The Civil Aviation Ministry had said on September 2 that the Indian airlines can operate a maximum 60 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic passenger flights due to the prevailing coronavirus situation.
It had asserted on October 29 that the 60 per cent cap would be in place till “February 24, 2021, or until further orders”.
Scheduled domestic passenger services resumed from May 25, after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered nationwide lockdown. However, the passenger capacity for airlines was capped at 33 per cent of their pre-pandemic domestic flights. On June 26, this was increased to 45 per cent and then to 60 per cent on September 2.
However, the government has still maintained the price cap on domestic flights until further orders.
Meanwhile, scheduled international flights still continue to be banned in the nation although the government has been operating special international flight services under the Vande Bharat Mission since May through bilateral air bubble pacts signed with various countries.
(With PTI inputs)