Airlines to limit capacity to 80% till April, says aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that airlines will have to limit their capacity of 80 per cent of pre-Covid times till April as the number of air passengers has declined in the last few days due to coronavirus-related restrictions and impositions. 

The government on Friday said that airlines will have to limit their capacity of 80 per cent of pre-Covid times till April as the number of air passengers has declined in the last few days due to coronavirus-related restrictions and impositions. Last few days have seen a decline in the number of air passengers largely due to restrictions & imposition of compulsory RT-PCR test by various states. Due to this we have decided to retain the permissible limit to 80% of schedule. @MoCA_GoI @PIB_India @AAI_Official There has been a continuous rise in price of ATF so it has been decided to increase the lower fare band by 5% keeping the upper fare band unchanged. We may open the sector for 100% operations when daily passenger traffic crosses 3.5 lakhs on 3 occasions in a month. Union Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in a tweet, said that there has been a decline in the number of air passengers lately as some states have imposed restrictions such as compulsory RT-PCR tests due to a renewed spike in coronavirus cases. "Last few days have seen a decline in the number of air passengers largely due to restrictions & imposition of compulsory RT-PCR test by various states," Puri said.