Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that the number of passengers in domestic flights started with 30 thousand passengers on 25-May increased to 2.06 lakh on 8 November. According to the Minister, the Ministry of Aviation has allowed domestic airlines to increase their current flight capacity from 60 per cent to 70 per cent (of Covid-19 pre-capacity).
The central government had approved starting the domestic flight service from May 25, two months after the lockdown. However, airlines were allowed to operate flights with a maximum of 33 per cent capacity. After this, the government increased this limit to 45 per cent on 26 June and 60 per cent on 2 September, when demand increased. However, in the announcement made on September 2, the government did not tell how long this limit will remain in force. After this, last week it was said by the government that this limit will remain in force till 24 February 2021.
