Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is confident that air travel would reach pre-Covid levels by the end of the year or early next year.

As per a Press Trust of India report, Puri said, “We opened civil aviation on May 25, a good two months and two days after we have completely locked down…..with 30,000 passengers on a day. Two days or three days ago, I think just before Diwali, we carried 2, 25,000 and with a scale at which we are opening up in a calibrated manner, we have already opened up 70 per cent capacity.”

The aviation ministry is also looking at ways to increase the cap to 80 per cent. Puri has stated that he is confident that by the end of the year, by December 31 or soon thereafter, the country’s air travel sector will be back to pre-Covid levels.

However, he emphasised that reaching the pre-Covid levels requires that the existing safety protocols are further strengthened.

Speaking through video conference at ”Deccan Dialogue” organised by the Indian School of Business (ISB), Puri said he was committed to bringing aviation GDP back to India.

civilaviation.gov.in