Jubilee Post News & Views
Jubilee News Desk
Lucknow: After a major thump during the lockdown various sectors are now starting to make a comeback and one among them is the aviation sector – particularly the domestic sector.
Domestic air traffic, which was completely at a halt, made a comeback and according to data from ministry of Civil Aviation approximately over 2 lakh passengers boarded flights in India on November 1.
About 350,000-400,000 passengers used to travel by air daily in India before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. This translates into a monthly passenger handling of 2-2.5 million by the domestic airports.
IndiGo completed operations of 1 lakh flights, including scheduled services, repatriation and cargo flights, since the lockdown in March, the budget carrier said November 11. IndiGo achieved the feat when it operated its flight 6E 216 to Varanasi from Hyderabad, the airline said.
With restrictions still on, aviation sector is still at lag. Domestic flights were suspended since March 25. After two-months domestic passenger flights resumed operations on May 25. Airlines were permitted to operate only at 30% capacity due to social distancing rules.
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The response from travellers was even unenthusiastic as none wanted to travel for the risk of getting infected.
Despite permission to fly at 30% capacity, domestic passenger traffic remained 83.5% lower than previous year in June month.
The cap was enhanced to 45% from June 26, yet, passenger traffic remained 82.6% below the previous July and 75.8% in August 2020 as travellers continued to remain home.
The cap on airlines’ operations was further revised to 60% with effect from September 2. This time, passenger movement improved significantly despite rising Covid-19 infections as people started adjusting to the new normal.
Domestic passenger traffic averaged 65.1% below its year-ago level in September. With passenger traffic alleviating the year-on-year fall to less-than 50% by November 2020, and expectations of a further pick-up in demand due to the festival season, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to relax the cap further to 70-75% of normal capacity in the coming days, according to a report in cmie.
The ban did not apply to cargo traffic. Yet, international cargo traffic, at 618,300 tonnes, during April-September 2020 remained 40.3% below its level in the corresponding months of 2019. International trade, particularly of high valued and perishable goods, remained weak during this period in the backdrop of the pandemic.
During April-September 2020, exports of jewellery, floriculture items and fruits, which are transported as air cargo, declined. Imports of gold, electronics, fresh vegetables, fruits also suffered a slump.
Though slow but recovery is the new thing and aviation sector is trying hard to run on the path.
