Centre allows domestic airlines to operate at 65% passenger capacity

The Civil Aviation Ministry has allowed domestic airlines to operate at 65 percent of their original pre-COVID-19-level capacity.

The Centre on July 5 increased the seating capacity from the current 50 percent to 65 percent stating that the cap on domestic aviation capacity at 65 percent will be operational until July 31 or till further orders. Notably, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India had put a cap on domestic airlines’ capacity utilisation to prop up financially weak airlines when the COVID-19 pandemic had choked air travel.

However, given that daily domestic air passengers had nearly touched 1,60,000 people and is likely to rise to 1,70,000 by the end of this week, the ministry decided to revise the cap on seating capacity.

The central government had cut the cap on capacity utilisation for airlines to operate from 80 percent to 50 percent from June 1, 2021, to safeguard the viability of airlines with weak finances as domestic air passenger traffic had fallen to 1,00,000 after the second wave of the pandemic.