New Delhi (NVI): Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said that the number of domestic passengers travelled yesterday rose to 2,97,102 on 2,349 flights, the highest since resumption of domestic flights in May last year.
Puri also said that with air travel emerging as a preferred mode of travel due to safety, efficiency and time saving, the numbers are almost touching Pre-COVID levels.
In a statement, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that, “Total flight movements of February 12, 2021 were 4697 and the total number of footfalls on airports was 5,93,819.”
The domestic flight operations were ceased with effect from midnight on March 24, 2020, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The operation, however, resumed after two months on May 25 last year, the statement added.
As per the ministry data, in December 2020, the domestic passenger traffic rose 15 per cent month-on-month, although was down 43 per cent year-on-year.
The domestic operations passenger load factor stood at 65-78 per cent during December last year.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered airlines to fly not more than 33 per cent of their domestic pre-COVID routes, in addition to the airfare cap. As of now, 80 per cent of domestic flights have been cleared by March 2021.
-RJV
