Capacity expansion hit as few fly amid curbs

UP TO 10-12% FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED BY AIRLINES EACH DAY IN THE LAST WEEK OF JUNE

NEW DELHI: Indian airlines are unlikely to augment domestic capacities anytime soon as they face several bottlenecks despite the further easing of curbs by the government.

The carriers continue to endure various restrictions, reduced slots at airports, stringent passenger quarantine and lockdowns in several states as well as sluggish demand.

“It’s hard for airlines to increase their capacity to 45% in the near future as most airlines are currently operating at 20%-25% of their capacity amid muted passenger demand due to the pandemic,” a senior airline official said, seeking anonymity.

Indian airlines resumed domestic flights in a staggered manner from May 25, after a twomonth suspension during a nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus. At the time, the government set a 33% cap on flights for each airline, which was raised to 45% in June.

“Scaling up capacity to 45% is welcome, given that economic resumption needs deeper connectivity but demand remains very soft with continuing increase in infections especially in metropolitan cities,” said Kapil Kaul, CEO,

Indian subcontinent and Middle East at aviation consultancy Capa India. “It will be very challenging for airlines”.

IndiGo, India’s top domestic airline, said last week it may take anywhere between 18 and 24 months to return to pre-Covid-19 levels of travel demand. The carrier expects to reach 85% operational capacity by June 2021, CEO Ronojoy Dutta said.

Airlines are operating nearly 800 flights a day, compared to about 3,000 flights a day before the lockdown. Several airlines, however, continue to cancel at the last minute, causing major disruptions to passengers. Up to 10-12% flights were cancelled each day in the last week of June, said Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of online travel firm EaseMyTrip.com. A second airline executive cited three reasons for the abrupt cancellation in flights: “These include capacity cap from regulatory authorities of 33% (now 45%), some airports still maintaining reduced slots (as against the 45% capacity cap) and muted commercial demand or varying state government laws.”