The Indian government has allowed domestic airlines to increase their operations to 80 per cent of pre-Covid capacity from the existing 70 per cent.

Civil aviation ministry Hardeep Singh Puri said, “Domestic operations recommenced with 30K passengers on May 25 have now touched a high of 2.52 lakh on November 30, 2020.

“Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India is now allowing domestic carriers to increase their operations from existing 70 per cent to 80 per cent of pre-Covid approved capacity.”

The move aims to further enhance air connectivity options for domestic travel in this ongoing pandemic period.

India resumed domestic flight operations in May after a gap of two months. Initially, the airlines were allowed to operate not more than 33 percent of their pre-Covid domestic flights.

This cap was revised to 45 per cent with effect from June 26, 2020, and was further enhanced to 60 per cent from September 2, 2020. In November, it was increased to 70 per cent.

dgca.gov.in, civilaviation.gov.in