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Domestic air passenger traffic sees growth in June amid dipping Covid-19 cases: Report
The domestic passenger traffic saw sequential growth of 41-42% in June over its previous month, according to ICRA report.
Domestic air passenger traffic was back on the growth trajectory in June amid a declining trend in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the country with around three million passengers flying on local routes in the last month in contrast to around two million in May, according to a report by credit rating agency ICRA, reported PTI.
The domestic passenger traffic saw sequential growth of 41-42% in June over its previous month. The domestic passenger volume, however, increased 51% on a year-on-year basis, the report said on Tuesday. June 2020 was fully operational after domestic commercial flights operations resumed on May 25 following a nearly two-month ban owing to the nationwide lockdown.
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The civil aviation ministry recently increased the capacity to 65% with effect from July 5 from the previous 50%, this will remain applicable till July 31.
"For June 2021, the average daily departures were at around 1,100, significantly higher than average daily departures of around 700 in June 2020, and higher than around 900 in May 2021, though remains significantly lower than around 2,000 in April 2021," said Kinjal Shah, vice-president and co-group head at ICRA.
The average number of passengers per flight during the month was 94, up as against the average of 77 passengers per flight in May, Shah said, according to PTI.
Though there was some recovery in June, the continued stress on demand still exists, largely due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, limiting travel to only necessary travel, PTI quoted Shah as saying.
She noted that leisure and business travels have been restricted owing to various state-wide Covid curbs, despite the dip in the daily infections.
The government's recent announcement of a scheme aimed to provide financial support in the form of working capital/personal loans to around 0,700 recognised regional-level tourist guides is predicted to offer much-needed liquidity support to tourism and travel stakeholders (TTS), as per ICRA.
Meanwhile, the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) was estimated to be at around 1.47 lakh, a sequential rise of around 4%, as flights to and from India remained suspended in June by many countries due to the emergence of the new variant of the virus.
International flight operations are functional under the VBM for evacuation of Indian citizens from foreign countries, since May last year, as scheduled international flights have been suspended further till July 31.
