International passenger traffic fell by 90.56 percent to 18.55 lakh in the March-December period of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the corresponding period of 2019, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri mentioned on Wednesday.
Moreover, domestic passenger traffic fell to 3.77 crores in the March-December period of 2020 from 11.99 crores within the corresponding period of 2019, the minister mentioned.
Scheduled international passenger traffic continues to remain suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, particularly international flights have been operating since July 2020 under air bubble arrangements formed with various nations.
“Revenues of main Indian scheduled carriers fell from Rs. 46,711 crore during April-September 2019 to about Rs. 11,810 crore throughout April-September 2020. Their full-time and contractual employment which was 74,887 as of 31 March 2020 fell to 67,906 as of 30 September 2020,” Puri told in parliament
“Domestic passenger traffic fell from 11,99,45,632 during March-December 2019 to 3,77,79,592 during March-December 2020, while international passenger traffic fell from 1,96,64,179 to 18,55,033,” he added.
Domestic passenger traffic was suspended in India from March 25, 2020, to May 24, 2020, due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. Currently, the Indian carriers are permitted to operate not more than 80 percent of their pre-COVID domestic flights.
