Domestic passenger flights to resume from Monday in calibrated manner

Domestic passenger flight services will resume from May 25 in a calibrated manner, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. The minister, however, did not say as to when international passenger flights would resume.

All scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 25, when the Modi government imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. "Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday, May 25, 2020. All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May," Puri said on Twitter.

"SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for passenger movement are also being separately issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation," he added. On Tuesday, Puri said the Centre alone cannot take a decision on resuming passenger flights and the state governments should be ready to allow these services in the spirit of cooperative federalism.

Senior government officials have said around 30 per cent of domestic flights will be allowed initially. "The number of flights will be increased gradually after that," one of them added. The officials also said the government is likely to put a cap, as well as a floor, on all air fares so as to discourage predatory pricing by airlines.

"The discussions regarding the floor price and cap price on air fares are currently going on. A decision would be taken soon," the official cited above said. The aviation sector has been hit hard by the pandemic as various countries, including India, decided to suspend commercial flights completely to curb the spread of the virus.

Since March 25, Indian airlines have taken steps like firing expat pilots, announcing pay cuts and leave without pay for employees to conserve cash. The government officials said the flights will operate across all parts of the country from May 25.

"However, we are unsure about Kolkata right now because of weather conditions there," another official said, referring to the extremely severe cyclone, Amphan, that hit West Bengal, other states in eastern India, and Bangladesh on Wednesday. The first, second and third phase of lockdown were between March 25-April 14, April 15-May 3 and May 4-May 17, respectively. The fourth phase started from May 18 and would end on May 31. Cargo flights, medical evacuation flights, offshore helicopter operations and special flights approved by the aviation regulator DGCA have been allowed to operate as usual during the lockdown.

The virus has infected more than 1.06 lakh people and killed more than 3,300 people in India so far.