New Delhi, Dec 4(UNI) Airlines in the country can board up to 80 per cent of their pre-Covid capacity on domestic flights-- from 70 per cent now-- in their domestic flights.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed the relaxation of restrictions in the sector badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry had said last month that the Indian airlines can operate up to 70 per cent of their pre-Covid domestic passenger flights due to the existing demand.

"Ministry of Civil Aviation is now allowing domestic carriers to increase their operations from existing 70 per cent to 80 per cent of pre-COVID approved capacity,” said the minister in a tweet.

Airlines are looking to fly more passengers in view of the Christmas-New Year season.

“Domestic operations recommenced with 30K (30,000) passengers on 25 May & have now touched a high of 2.52 lakhs on 30 Nov 2020," Puri said.

Credit rating agency ICRA had earlier said that India's aviation industry will witness revenue de-growth of 44 per cent in FY2021. Overall, the industry will witness 41-46 per cent de-growth in domestic passenger traffic and 67-72 per cent de-growth in international passenger traffic for the Indian carriers in FY2021.

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