The civil aviation ministry announced that airlines can now run a maximum of 65 percent of their pre-Covid domestic flights instead of 50 percent.
According to a May 28 ministry guidelines, the carriers have been operating only 50% of their pre-Covid domestic flights since June 1. Prior to June 1, the cap was set at 80%.
The decision to reduce the cap from 80 to 50 percent was made on May 28 “in view of the sudden surge in the number of active COVID-19 cases across the country, decrease in passenger traffic, and the passenger load (occupancy rate) factor”, the ministry had said.
On Monday, it issued a new order, modifying the May 28 order by declaring that “50% capacity may be read as 65 percent capacity.” The 65-percent cap will be in effect until “July 31, 2021, or until further orders, whichever comes first,” according to Monday’s order.
The government resumed scheduled domestic flights following a two-month suspension on May 25. Last year, the ministry only allowed carrier flights to operate 33% of their pre-Covid domestic services. By December, the cap had been gradually raised to 80%.
