Airlines can fly at full capacity from October 18

• Follow

The ministry of civil aviation on Tuesday allowed Airlines to operate domestic flights without any capacity restrictions, starting October 18. This was done, keeping in mind the increasing demand for air travel from passengers. Since September 18, the carriers have been operating 85% of their pre-Covid domestic services. On October 9, the Indian carriers have operated about 2,340 domestic flights, which was 71.5% of their pre-Covid capacity.

The order stated by the ministry said that, it has been decided to restore the scheduled domestic air operation with effect October 18, 2021, without any capacity restriction. It also noted that after a  review of the current status of scheduled domestic operations and passenger demand for air travel, the decison was taken.

Curbs due to second wave

Last year, the government resumed the scheduled domestic flights from May 25 after a two-month closure due to the first Covid-19 lockdown. Back then the carriers were allowed to operate not more than 33% of their pre-Covid domestic services. By December, 2020, the cap was increased to 80%, and remained the same till June 1 this year.

On May 28 this year, due to the sudden surge in the number of Covid-19 cases and the decrease in passenger traffic and load, the ministry brought down cap from 80 to 50% from June 1 onwards.

In between August 12 and September 18, the capacity cap stood at 72.5%, while it was 65% between July 5and August 12 and between June 1 and July 5 it was at 50%.

Last week, the government decided to allow foreign tourists into the country, beginning with granting tourist visas to those travelling by chartered flights from October 15 and those by regular planes from November 15.