Govt allows domestic flights to operate at full capacity from October 18

Domestic airlines will now be able to operate at 100 per cent of their pre-Covid capacity from October 18, 2021, according to a govt statement issued on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation had capped domestic airline capacity since May 2020. Currently, the cap on the capacity for domestic flights was at 85 per cent.

The official statement said, “After review of the current status of Scheduled Domestic Operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel in terms of the purpose specified in the initial order dated May 21, 2020...it has been decided to restore the scheduled domestic air operations with effect from 1810-2021 without any capacity restriction.”

“The airlines/airport operators shall, however, ensure that the guidelines to contain the spread of Covid are strictly adhered to and Covid appropriate behavior is strictly enforced by them during the travel,” the order said.