Domestic air traffic to be normal by year-end

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 20

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said he was hopeful of domestic passenger traffic reaching half of its full potential by mid-July and the pre-Covid lockdown level of nearly1.5 lakh people travelling every day by the year-end.

Vande Bharat success

Speaking about success of Vande Bharat Mission, Puri said during phases 3 and 4 of the mission, private domestic airlines had been approved to operate 750 international flights to add up to Air India’s 300 flights.

Briefing media on flight operations, Puri said, as the domestic flight operation resumed on May 25, it began with very modest passenger load, but in the past 25 days it rose by almost 100 per cent. He said currently nearly 70,000 passengers were using domestic flights on a daily basis, as against nearly 30,000 on May 25.

Speaking about success of Vande Bharat Mission, Puri said during phases 3 and 4 of the mission, private domestic airlines had been approved to operate 750 international flights to add up to Air India’s 300 flights. “So a little over 1,000 flights were operated to repatriate people stranded amid the coronavirus pandemic,” he said, adding that over 1,00,000 people had been brought back under the mission and chartered planes operated by private airlines had brought back nearly 1.40 lakh people.

On resuming international operation, the minister said India needed airspace to be open for the services and need border acceptance. Resumption of international flights depends on the opening of airports in other countries.